#Newton knight free#

With blacks and whites, men and women fighting side by side, they wind up taking control of three and a half counties in Mississippi and declare the area the Free State of Jones. With the war going badly, he’s soon joined by more deserters, including former buddies Jasper Collins (Christopher Berry) and Will Sumrall (Sean Bridgers).Īnd once armed, Knight leads them into open rebellion, determined to take back Jones County from the Confederates and oust the plantation owners.

Until he finds bloodhounds on his trail and is forced to flee to the swamps like a runaway slave. Knight wraps his body, places it on a mule and heads home, carrying not one damn bit about the penalty for desertion.Īnd once home, he begins defending family farms from the requisitioning troops.

The breaking point comes when Daniel is killed in his first battle. Then a young relative named Daniel shows up, announcing that he’s been ordered into the Army and that Confederate troops back home are requisitioning large amounts of stock and provisions from family farms. Matthew McConaughey is Newton Knight, a medic serving with the Confederate Army and quickly growing disillusioned with this Civil War.Īs he watches farm boys being butchered on the fields of battle, he learns of new laws being passed that excuse the sons of slave holders from service.

Newton knight