Second Sight introduces us to the lives of the main characters that appear in Kill the Messenger.  It acts as an interesting back story and provides insight into their lives at the start of the war.  The short film moves in a "round robin" fashion as it shows three separate stories happening simultaneously during the first battle of the Civil War in July 1861 at Bull Run in Virginia.

The northern photographer Benjamin Harris and his wife Rachel have gathered with other onlookers--townspeople and politicians from Washington--who have come to watch the battle from atop a hill.   Most of them feel this will be a small skirmish with a swift victory for the north, and to display their confidence, they have set out picnic spreads so they may eat and enjoy the sight of the battle below.  Benjamin works for Mathew Brady and hopes to make enough money from taking pictures after the battle to buy his wife the proper ring she deserves. Rachel, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with the party atmosphere that will be at the expense of dying soldiers and could care less about money acquired this way.

Meanwhile, the Union troops are readying for battle.  Captain McCormick warns his right hand man Lt. Gillen to be extra careful out there, as he does not want Sgt. Hatcher--a haphazard soldier with a checkered past--to advance in rank if the lieutenant dies.  However, unknown to them, Sgt. Hatcher plans to do just that and plots the murder of the lieutenant so he can receive the commission he feels he rightfully deserves.

On the other side, two brothers from Missouri make their way back to the main Rebel camp with a major's horse.  The older of the two, Drake, is a former soldier from West Point, and his brother Daniel is a farm boy who he drug away from their Abolitionist father--who Drake has always hated, and Daniel respected.  Drake spouts the virtues of states' rights and the necessity of slavery, while Daniel wishes everyone to get along together.  Their mother's death at the hands of pro-slavery ruffians as a result their father's preaching motivates Drake's hatred of him and the nerve of the north.

When the battle is over, lives on all accounts will have changed, and a new world of blood and destruction will be born to the land of the United States.