Rifles for Watie

When Jeff arrives at the Washbourne home, the yard is unmaintained as if the property is abandoned. But when Jeff knocks, an older black woman answers and tells him that Lucy is out but will return. Mrs. Washbourne comes to the door and invites Jeff in. From the sadness on her face, Jeff knows that she received her son’s body. Mrs. Washbourne expresses gratitude for Jeff’s kindness in returning Lee to the family. She tells him that he should wait for Lucy, who has gone to visit Mrs. Washbourne’s sick sister, as she will be happy to see him. Jeff doubts this but waits anyway. When Lucy returns, Jeff braces himself, but she immediately takes his hands and says sincerely, “Mr. Bussey, […] what a nice surprise” (264). Lucy, tanned brown from working in the sun, asks the black woman to bring Jeff some water and takes his hat. Emotionally, Lucy thanks Jeff for returning her brother’s body.

Jeff expresses his sorrow for Lee’s death, adding: “I’m heartily ashamed of my commander for ordering it” (265), and he tells her that Lee was courageous. Gratefully, Lucy reveals that Belie told the family how Jeff refused to take part in the firings squad despite facing disciplinary action. Embarrassed, Jeff tells her that he had no idea who the prisoner was when he refused. He shifts the conversation and asks about the cow who is no longer out front. To Jeff’s dismay, Lucy tells him that the Union soldiers took the cow and her calf despite the illegality of looting. Lucy quickly reassures him and asks why he is keeping Dixie tethered. Jeff tells Lucy that he wants to prevent her from fighting with Lucy’s cat, and Lucy tells him that he can untie her because the looters stole the cat as well.

Although food is scarce, Lucy invites Jeff to a dinner consisting of mostly vegetables from the garden. Jeff offers a bag of corn which he grinds to make cornbread. After dinner, Jeff goes outside to perform some neglected maintenance, ecstatic at Lucy’s new friendliness. Later, they talk as Lucy mends his shirt. Jeff tells her about his family, and Lucy talks about the Cherokee Female Seminary where she was studying. She offers to take him to see it, although it has been empty since early in the war. Lucy borrows the cart and mule belonging to Perce, the older black woman, and they have an enjoyable trip exploring the church grounds. Returning to the cart, Jeff realizes that the day has gone by too quickly, and “a fellow who might get shot tomorrow shouldn’t have to wait a whole year to call a girl by her first name or tell her that he loved her” (271).

Jeff knows that he might never see Lucy again. Back at the house, Jeff asks Lucy to keep Dixie for him and she agrees. He helps her off the cart and she kisses him, asserting: “I like you, Jeff Bussey. But I warn you: I haven’t changed my mind about the war” (272). Nevertheless, Jeff is thrilled. He leaves Lucy and Dixie. The next morning, Jeff is preoccupied with thoughts of Lucy. Then David Gardner pulls Jeff aside and warns him not to go on a scouting mission. Gardner met with the Confederate sentries again the previous night, and Watie’s men have promised to execute the first of Clardy’s men to be caught behind rebel lines. Just then, Jeff is called into a meeting with Orff who informs him that they will go on a scouting mission that night. At midnight, Jeff crosses the river with another scout named Jim Bostwick. Suddenly, rebel soldiers surround them. Quickly, Bostwick tells them that the two of them are on their way to join up with Watie. The sentry agrees to take them to Colonel Watie, who is camped nearby.

The sentry, who Jeff dubs “Surly Voice,” takes them to camp and gives them a spot to sleep on the ground. Jeff is exhausted but anxious. He and Bostwick are trapped, unable to confer with each other. Jeff reasons that lying to Watie in the morning is less risky than attempting to fight their way out, and finally falls asleep. In the morning, an ugly old man nudges Jeff awake and then goes on to do the same to the other sleeping soldiers. Looking around, Jeff discovers that “this was no rebel patrol. This was the main body of the enemy force” (279), which indicates that something big is about to happen. Jeff wakes Bostwick and tries to talk to him, but Surly Voice leads them to breakfast. Jeff is surprised to see that Surly Voice is a skinny redhead of about 25 and a sergeant. They eat hungrily as Jeff assesses the situation, gorging on beef. He notes that the troops look white despite Cherokee heritage. Their weapons, different from Union weapons, include Bowie knives and makeshift bayonets.

Surly Voice’s name is Sam Fields. The old man who awakened them is the cook and the soldiers call him Heifer and “openly insulted him about everything from his food to his deformed face” (280). Heifer takes it in stride, mocking them back. Jeff tastes rebel “coffee” and almost spits it out. Jeff stops himself, nervous that his unfamiliarity with southern “coffee” will give away the fact that he is a Union spy. Although Jeff knows that they will soon meet Watie and likely be discovered since they aren’t prepared with a lie. Fields leads Jeff and Bostwick to a man who appears to be part Cherokee, a major who Fields introduces the pair to as a “couple fighters. At least that’s what they claim” (283). The major asks Jeff why they want to join. Although Orff advised Jeff to allow Bostwick to speak for them, the major is addressing Jeff. Jeff, who has eaten a decent meal for the first time in months, blurts, “Sir, we like the grub better here” (283). The major questions, “Better here than where?” (283). Jeff, terrified, responds, “Better here than anywhere, sir” (283).

The major asks Jeff his name, and without thinking, Jeff replies, “Jefferson Davis Bussey” (284). Jeff is suddenly frightened because he has given his real name, but the major immediately notes that if that is his name, “he must be all right” (284) and orders Fields to swear Jeff and Bostwick in. Fields does so, and Jeff finds out later that the major, William P. Adair, is a lawyer and “one of Watie’s most highly trusted officers and personal friends” (284). At the company’s roll call, Jeff realizes that everyone responds, meaning that none of Watie’s men have been lost to desertion—“the stamp of a good outfit” (285). Jeff is sent out on patrol. Stationed in a graveyard, Jeff worries that in battle the next day he will be expected to fire on his fellow Union soldiers and decides to aim away from them. Jeff thinks about Lucy, wishing that the war would end.

As Jeff nearly falls asleep, he is surprised by a young black man herding cattle. They chat, and Jeff asks him why he isn’t fighting in the army. The young man tells him that the south doesn’t welcome slaves into the army, adding “proudly, ‘We’s too valuable. We’s property’” (288). The young man asks Jeff where he is from that he wasn’t aware that slaves could not serve in the army. When Jeff tells him that he came from Kansas, the young man becomes excited because he thinks that Abraham Lincoln came from Kansas. Jeff corrects him, and the young man tells him that the slaves discuss Lincoln, adding: “We loves ouah mastahs but we all want to be free some day” (288). Jeff tells him that at Fort Gibson he would already be free, and that there is a battalion of free black soldiers in the Union army. The young man, who is familiar with Fort Gibson, introduces himself as Leemon Jones, a slave for a Chickasaw farmer named Saul Hibbs, before moving on down the road.

The next day, Jeff rides to Elk Creek with Watie’s battalion to join forces with General Cooper’s men. Although Jeff is dismayed that he may face his friends in battle, he knows that he can’t return to Fort Gibson until he finds out what Blunt needs to know. As the two armies begin to fire at each other, Fields suddenly orders Jeff to go to the rear and hold horses for the cavalrymen fighting on foot because Jeff is “too young for the front line” (291). Jeff is relieved to avoid fighting his friends, but Bostwick is sent to the front lines. It begins to rain, and the south’s wet gun powder becomes unusable. Discreetly, Jeff asks questions about the pending arrival of reinforcements, discovering that they had not yet made it. As cavalrymen return to take their horses from Jeff, Jeff asks them about Fields. They tell Jeff that Fields is right behind them.

When Fields emerges from the woods, he is seriously injured with a bleeding shoulder wound and one arm hanging useless. When Fields’s horse breaks free, Jeff tells Fields to ride double with him. In pain, Fields glares at Jeff before finally doing so. They ride together until another horse becomes available. Fields is churlish, brushing off the concerns of his men. For the wounded, there is no medic to care for them, so they must keep moving. They reach a swamp and the men are beset upon by hordes of mosquitos. As they ride, Jeff notices farmhouses that have obviously faced no destruction at the hands of raiders, and remembers the devastation wrought by Watie’s men upon Union farms. Jeff has no sympathy for the Confederate men he rides alongside, but he must remain and complete his mission.

Near nightfall, it begins to rain. They return to camp and Jeff resigns himself to the cold supper that inevitably waits since the rain will make cooking impossible. He is surprised when Heifer produces a southern feast. The rest of the men eat grimly and appreciatively, refraining from their usual teasing of the cook and instead talk about the men lost or injured that day. Fields returns from the doctor, his injuries treated, and tells Jeff that Bostwick was killed. Fields continues, describing how Bostwick kept sipping from his canteen. Fields assumed that Bostwick was drinking whisky, and after Bostwick fell and Fields was injured, he retrieved Bostwick’s canteen only to discover that it was full of Union coffee. Fields accuses, “He was a blue belly. And so are you!” (297).

Before Jeff can respond, Heifer interjects, pointing out that Jeff had saved Fields’s life when he could have left him to die or taken him as prisoner. Although Fields is unconvinced, he is interrupted when Major Adair needs to speak to him. Jeff thanks Heifer, and Heifer tells Jeff that Fields has been apprehensive and mistrustful since the death of his best friend, Lee Washbourne. Despondent and beginning to feel ill, Jeff prepares to sleep in the rain since none of the men offered him a place to sleep in their tents. Heifer invites Jeff to sleep in his bunk under the wagon, and Jeff gratefully accepts. Heifer offers Jeff dry clothing and helps him get dressed, and Jeff falls asleep right away. The next day, Jeff continues to pay attention for information about the Confederate armies who are on their way to offer reinforcement. Jeff sticks close to Heifer to listen to gossip, finally discovering that the extra forces had arrived from Texas and when additional reinforcements arrived, would attack Fort Gibson.

Anxious to return to Blunt, Jeff thinks guiltily about Heifer who has been kind to him. However, “this was war and Jeff had a job to do” (301). Preparing to leave after dark, Jeff is suddenly stricken with ferocious stomach cramps. Heifer discovers Jeff dizzy and feverish and begins to attempt to care for him with various home remedies “like a distraught father” (302). When Heifer leaves Jeff alone, Jeff seizes the opportunity to mount his horse and escape. As he rides, he realizes that he is too sick to make it all the way back to Fort Gibson. But the information he is bringing is time sensitive, and his fellow Union soldiers will die if Jeff can’t get word back to Blunt. Remembering the churchyard and Leemon Jones, Jeff locates him on a nearby farm. He confesses to Leemon that he is a Union scout and pleads with him to use his horse to take a message to Fort Gibson. Leemon agrees, noting he might return, or he might stay and enlist with the black regiment. Weakly, Jeff wishes Leemon luck and watches him disappear.