The situation in Part I is that a gentleman, a civilian, is being hanged from a railroad bridge in Alabama during the Civil War. As the man awaits his execution, he tries to "fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children." He begins to fixate on the ticking of his watch, and he perceives it as slowing down significantly. He considers how he might escape from his situation, ideas "flash[ing]" quickly through his brain. Finally, the sergeant steps off the plank, the other end of which is supporting the man to be hanged (and we can assume that the man's body starts to fall).
In Part II, we learn the man's identity and get some background information on him (including what he must have done to deserve hanging). He is Peyton Farquhar, a slave owner and vehement supporter of the Southern cause:
No service was too humble for him to perform in the aid of the South, no adventure too perilous for him to undertake if consistent with the character of a civilian who was at heart a soldier, and who in good faith and without too much qualification assented to at least a part of the frankly villainous dictum that all is fair in love and war.
We learn that, not long before, a man dressed as a Confederate soldier (who was really a Federal scout) visited the Farquhar plantation and told Farquhar that "a great quantity of driftwood" had built up against the bridge and "would burn like tinder" now that it was dry. This would destroy the railroad bridge, obviously, and a Union commandant, the soldier said, had "issued an order . . . declaring that any civilian caught interfering with the railroad . . . will be summarily hanged." This is a big clue that the railroad is essential to the Yankee war effort. Farquhar, a loyal Southerner, evidently decided to burn down the bridge in order to thwart the Union army and is now being hanged for it.
Part III tells us what goes on in Farquhar's mind as he falls from the bridge with the noose around his neck. We know that his brain seems to be running quickly because of the rapidity of his thought at the end of Part I as well as his perception of the slowing down of his watch. The entirety of Part III occurs in the hanged man's head—except for the final lines. The rope pulls taut, his neck is broken, and his body swings lifelessly.
Peyton Farquhar is a wealthy plantation owner who attempts to help the Confederacy by burning down the Owl Creek Bridge, which is central to the Union's efforts to invade the South. In part two, a Union spy arrives at Peyton Farquhar's estate and informs him that the Union commandant has issued an order that any civilian caught interfering with the railroad, its bridges, tunnels, or trains will be hanged. The Union spy is able to manipulate Peyton into believing that he will be able to overtake the single sentinel posted by the bridge and burn it down, which would halt the Union's advance. Unfortunately for Peyton, he is captured by the Union troops and sentenced to hang from the Owl Creek Bridge. As Peyton is waiting to be hanged, he daydreams about escaping and traveling home to see his family.
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