85 pages • 2 hours read
Harold KeithRifles for Watie
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1957A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 20-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 20 Summary: “The Jackmans”
Two weeks later, Jeff awakes in a bed. He is thin and weak but no longer feverish. A black woman named Hannah is caring for him. She tells him that he has been delirious, calling her “Mama an’ Bessie an’ Mary an’ Lucy. An’ Honey, when you’d call me Lucy, you’d say de sweetest things” (305). Jeff wonders what he said while he was ill, but Hannah doesn’t seem to know that he is a Union spy. Hannah tells Jeff that Heifer had driven him to home of the Jackmans, “a wealthy rebel family” (306) and that Watie himself had sent a note asking “Mrs. Jackson, who he called Aunt Maggie, […] to take Jeff in until he recovered” (306). Mrs. Jackson appears and Jeff thanks her profusely. She tells Jeff that he has been afflicted with a serious case of malaria but is healing and will hopefully be able to return to the army soon. The family’s five daughters enter, and “like Lucy Washbourne, each had the same brownish cast of skin that denoted their Cherokee blood” (307). The eldest daughters, Marjorie and Sophie, are married to men enlisted in the rebel army, and the three youngest, Jill, Janice, and Patricia, are 18, 16, and 13, respectively.
At dawn the next morning, Patricia wakes him by calling from outside, referring to him as Mr. Davis rather than Mr. Bussey. Jeff goes to the window and she shows him her horse, riding smoothly without a saddle. Taking in his surroundings, Jeff identifies the large house as situated on a plantation. As the family eats breakfast, Hannah brings Jeff a tray, but he isn’t hungry. He listens to the family’s breakfast chatter. Jill and Janice, like the Washbourne women, are proud of their boyfriends who are fighting with Watie’s men. This confuses Jeff, who wonders why such civil families would take pride in Watie’s brutal attacks on Union territory. Although the daughters are being trained to be proper ladies, their learning does not extend to housework since this is all done by slaves.
One day, a somber mood sweeps through the house and Hannah informs Jeff that the family is leaving the plantation for a safer location until the war ends. Hannah tells Jeff that he will be joining them, making Jeff more anxious than ever to return to Fort Gibson and stop living a lie. Two days before the family’s move, Jeff tries to escape under cover of darkness. But he’s too weak to make it out of the house. The Jackmans prepare to leave the house, packing their wagons and burying the valuables they can’t take. On the morning that they are meant to leave, Jeff wakes up late, immediately alarmed at the stillness in the house. The wagons still wait out front, but Jeff hears crying and knows something is wrong. He discovers Hannah weeping because the Pins, a nickname for a group of Cherokees who sympathized with the northern army, had ransacked the property. The slaves have been set free and directed toward Fort Scott and the livestock is gone, including Patricia’s beloved horse.
Despite the war, Jeff wants to help the family that has helped him. He suggests to Mrs. Jackman that the family find the poorest livestock available to pull their wagons since they will be less attractive to thieves. The family has set up a pallet for Jeff to rest in the back of one of the wagons on the trip. Weak, sick, and miserable in the hot wagon, Jeff despairs his inability to make it back to Fort Gibson. Jeff relapses on the trip and the Jacksons care for him, locating medication along the way. One night, they arrive in Choctaw County and locate an empty home. Urged by neighbors to stay, the Jackmans decide to move into the house rather than travel all the way to Texas. Although Jeff can’t work on the farm, he tells the family how to plant and maintain the crops. Watie is “elected principal chief of the southern segment of the Cherokees” (317).
From his new room, Jeff watches the road. As companies of rebel soldiers begin to occupy the road, Jeff knows that there is a battle ahead. When the Union forces defeat rebel armies at nearby Perryville, Jeff has mixed feelings as “he was secretly elated at the Union success and yet he didn’t want the Jackmans to be hurt by it” (317). A cavalryman arrives to inform the family that Sophie’s husband died in the Battle of Perryville and the rebels were unable to return his body. A month later, Mr. Jackman surprises the family with a visit. When Mr. Jackman meets Jeff, he tells him something that strikes fear into his heart: the rebels have begun to acquire rifles that load seven shots at once. This new development has the potential to prolong the war by as much as five years or tip the scales in favor of the Confederacy. Jeff realizes that he can’t leave until he learns more, but he has no idea how he will get intel back to Fort Gibson, which is almost a 100 miles away.
A few weeks later, Jeff begins to feel better, eating heartily for the first time since his illness began. But Aunt Hettie Sloan, a severe and scornful woman who lived nearby, visited. She looked at Jeff and pronounced him pale and sickly, adding: “He looks jest like my Uncle Jeremiah did before he jined the great majority two years ago” (320). Although Jeff protests that he feels much better, Aunt Hettie insists that Uncle Jeremiah experienced something similar that they called the “False Recovery” (320) just hours before he died. This terrifies Jeff, but he is relieved to discover that his recovery continues. He begins to assist in the farm work, knowing he will soon be sent back to the rebel army. But Adair, now Colonel Adair, sends Jeff a message to wait until spring to report since the majority of Watie’s men have been given furloughs to help on their family farms. Throughout the winter, Jeff hopes in vain that Mr. Jackman will visit and give more intelligence about the rifles. By March, Jeff feels spring approaching and “a surge of renewed hope” (322).
Chapter 21 Summary: “Boggy Depot”
When Heifer comes to collect Jeff from the Jackmans, he brings Jeff a new horse named Flea Bite. Jeff is excited to ride again, and notices that Patricia Jackman is watching enviously, having had no horse to ride since hers was stolen by Union looters. Jeff hands her the reins and, to her delight, tells her to take Flea Bite for a ride while he prepares to go. When Jeff is ready, however, he mounts Flea Bite and promptly falls off in a wave of dizziness, so he ends up riding in the wagon. Reunited with Watie’s men, Jeff watches as Heifer cooks and hums “Amazing Grace.” He feels a pang of guilt, thinking about how kind Heifer and everyone else on the Confederate side has been to him. The soldiers welcome him warmly, and even Sam Fields offers Jeff a handshake. The outfit travels to Boggy Depot, “the rebel war capital” (325). There, Jeff sees a hand-sewn rebel flag. He realizes that the war is lasting so long because the Confederacy has progressed to a point where they have “a flag as well as a president, a congress, and an army. […] These people were fighting for something they believed in. They might be hard to subdue” (326).
Back at camp, Jeff observes Watie’s brigade enjoying leisure time. When the daily sunset cannon fires, a group of Choctaws and Chickasaws take part in their ritual of singing the Choctaw war song. Some soldiers are performing maintenance on their equipment. Others are penning letters. In one area of the campground, a musician plays a homemade banjo, “strumming the merriest, rowdiest music Jeff had ever heard” (328). Jeff feels the urge to dance with the men who are “stomping about the leaf-strewn ground, hoedown style” (328). The crowd calls for a man named Shoat, who joins the banjo player by making percussive sounds by clacking his teeth together, much to the crowd’s enjoyment.
That night, Jeff stands sentry and Major Boudinot, “the infamous rebel cavalry leader” (239) enters the camp with a troop of Cherokees. Fields tells Jeff to escort Boudinot to see Colonel Watie. Seeking Watie, Jeff finds an old man sleeping on the ground and wakes him to ask where to find the colonel. The man replies, “I’m Colonel Watie. What do you want?” (339). Jeff gapes, surprised that the famous Colonel Watie has no one guarding him while he sleeps, then composes himself and introduces Boudinot. Watie and Boudinot greet each other familiarly, and Boudinot calls Watie “uncle,” and they disappear inside the tent. However, Jeff can hear them talking. Boudinot tells Watie that he has amassed rebel cash and gold. Watie tells him that he needs the gold to purchase rifles. The seller is a Union officer who has withheld his name, and he will only accept gold. The officer previously sold them a dozen rifles and will have 500 more by summer.
Jeff is shocked and wonders which officer is selling guns to the enemy. Watie tells Boudinot that with enough rifles, they can cut off Fort Gibson’s supplies and retake the land. Jeff creeps away quietly, but Watie and Boudinot hear him. Jeff hides as Watie comes out and looks around before going back inside. The next day, Boudinot distributes the rebel dollars as pay for the soldiers. Jeff tells Hooley Pogue, a Cherokee rebel who Jeff has been friendly with, that he plans to buy some gingerbread and offers to buy some for Pogue too. The baker uses Jeff’s dollar to measure a dollar-sized piece of gingerbread, and “thus Jeff learned for the first time the weak buying power of Confederate money” (334). Jeff shares the gingerbread with Pogue.
For the next month, Jeff listens for more information about the Federal rifle-seller but can’t learn anything more. It’s April 1864 “and the war, which had one more year to run, was raging with the convulsive fury of a final struggle” (334). Although he is staying ostensibly to discover the name of the traitor, Jeff becomes uncomfortable when he thinks about going back to his Union comrades at Fort Gibson. He finds that he is growing to like being with Watie’s men. For the rebel Cherokees, the war wasn’t about slavery as Cherokees on both sides owned slaves. They were “fighting to keep the rival Ross party from planting its foot on their necks” (335). Moreover, the Confederate soldiers enjoyed themselves, even in the midst of difficult conditions. There was no socialized hierarchy among officers and soldiers. Jeff thinks: “If I wasn’t fighting to hold the Union together and clean up the border trouble in Kansas, I could change sides mighty quick in this war” (335). Plus, the food was much better in Watie’s camp than at Fort Gibson—in part because Heifer made special meals for Jeff. Additionally, Heifer has been offering Jeff advice that has improved his performance as a soldier.
Jeff worries that he will be expected to go on one of Watie’s raiding expeditions, but Pogue laughs and reassures him that they have already raided everything there was to raid. Jeff, who Fields has continued to assign horse-holding duty, has been able to watch without needing to fight his Union friends. But “he rode and ate and slept with the Watie outfit, sharing the hardships and dangers that bind fighting men inexorably together” (336). When the dates ending their enlistment period approaches, Jeff notices that all of Watie’s men “re-enlisted for the duration of the war, ‘be it long or short’” (336). Jeff signs up for re-enlistment as well. Jeff is present when Watie requests the national council of Cherokee rebels to institute a draft of able-bodied Cherokees between ages 18 and 45. The council grants his request, widening the age span to 17 and 50. Jeff imagines that with those rifles, the Cherokees could reclaim their land within three months. In June, Jeff rides with Watie’s outfit as they attack a Union supply boat. As the boat approaches, Jeff is horrified to see masses of Union men emerge from hiding to fend them off.
Chapter 22 Summary: “Pheasant Bluff”
Bracing himself for Flea Bite’s reaction to the inevitable cannon fire, Jeff muses: “What an odd way to die, killed by our own countrymen as Bostwick had been at Honey Springs” (339). Jeff is surprised to discover that Heifer rides next to him, realizing that Heifer, who treats Jeff like a son, must have felt compelled to ride with Jeff in the first battle in which Jeff will do more than hold horses. Jeff feels guilt at Heifer’s willingness to die for him, knowing how much it would hurt if Jeff went back to Fort Gibson. Regardless, Jeff knows that he will soon be forced to decide whether he would return or stay. The rebels damage the boat until it runs ashore, and Watie’s men loot clothing rather than food. They find luxuries as well as a large supply of Federal money. One rebel soldier, Yancey Pearl, gloats that the money will be worthless when the Confederates win the war. Pearl urges Jeff to tear it up, but Jeff hesitates. Finally, noticing Field’s wary eyes on him, he throws the money into the water.
After the rebels take the boat, Jeff realizes that Hooley Pogue is among the wounded. He rushes to his side. Jeff doesn’t consider that Pogue is supposed to be his enemy. Although the field doctor has staunched the blood flow, the hospital is a 100 miles away. The doctor performs surgery in the field and then prop Pogue on his horse where he soon passes out. Jeff mounts Pogue’s horse in order to keep him from falling off. Many of the men leave to take some of the food and supplies plundered from the boat directly to their needy families. Heifer tells a confused Jeff that Watie leads by “Indian discipline” rather than “West Point discipline” and “Indians b’lieve in takin’ booty. Makes ‘em fight bettah” (345). In addition to the boat, Watie and his men take Union supply train, “capturing the train and its mule-drawn cargo valued at $1,500,000. It was the greatest disaster of the war to Union arms in Indian country” (345), and a substantial portion of the pillaged supplies went to refugee families. The rebels are celebrating, but a discussion of raiding in Kansas brings Jeff back to reality. If Watie’s men follow through with the attack on canvas, they will run right over the Bussey family farm.
Jeff arrives back at Boggy Depot, bringing supplies for both the Jackman family and Pogue. He goes to sleep, waking when the orderly sergeant kicks his boots and orders him to report to Fields, “mounted and armed” (347). Jeff does so, and Fields assigns “special duty” (347), which involves riding to where a group of soldiers in Union uniforms are guarding a wagon. Jeff assumes that the soldiers are simply rebel men who have put on the uniforms plundered from the supply boat. But then, he sees Clardy. Jeff hides from view, watching as Clardy makes a deal with Colonel Thompson to sell 200 rifles to Watie’s men. Clardy agrees to sell another 800 rifles in two months, but they will be more expensive, and he refuses to negotiate with anyone but Watie himself. Thompson agrees to hide Clardy in his tent until Watie returns, and Clardy agrees, leaving his men to wait. Now that he knows the name of the traitor, Jeff can return to Fort Gibson even though he wants to stay. Sadly, Jeff makes the decision to go back. Then, passing through the celebrations in town, Jeff sees an attractive girl. Lucy Washbourne greets him with pleased surprise.
Chapters 20-22 Analysis
Jeff’s time with the Jackmans and his return to Watie’s outfit tests Jeff’s ability to remain loyal to the Union army despite the kindness the rebels show him. His experiences shed light on Blunt’s assertion that all of the spies they sent failed to return because they switched sides. The Jackmans treat Jeff like family, and Jeff sees the heartbreak firsthand when Union looters rob them. And Watie’s men are passionate about what they are fighting for. While many of the Union soldiers (and the Confederacy at large) seem to have enlisted for questionable reasons, Watie’s men have enlisted for a cause. Additionally, the rebel soldiers live better than the Union men. The food in the rebel camp is far superior to the meager rations given to the Union soldiers. The officers and soldiers mingle with none of the social hierarchy and separation that Jeff has come to despise. And Jeff has made friends who are loyal to him. Heifer loves Jeff so much that he joins in battle to watch over him.
Jeff expresses guilt for his inevitable treachery against the rebel individuals who have welcomed him. But Clardy’s treachery is evil and unforgivable. While Jeff prepares to betray the rebels for the sake of the Union, Clardy betrays the Union for the sake of money. The book frames war and acts of war as acceptable and respectable when committed in the name of idealism, whether that idealism is misguided or not. An act of war that occurs for the sake of profit or personal vengeance is not. Although the book does not specifically address whether or not Jeff kills anyone when fighting, it suggests that if he does, it is justified. Of course, Clardy has been the dangerous and irresponsible enemy of the novel’s protagonist since Jeff entered the army. Clardy is a fictional character amid many historical figures, which means that the author has imagined a situation in which one disloyal officer might have affected the outcome of the entire Civil War.
Jeff’s commitment to his personal ethics and morality transcends the line between Union and Confederacy. Hooley Pogue has been a friend to Jeff, and Jeff saves his life. He does the same for Sam Fields, although Fields has not been particularly kind. Although Watie’s method of leading, which prioritizes caring for the vulnerable over military etiquette, is more in line with Jeff’s. However, although Jeff debates with himself whether to return to Fort Gibson, ultimately it violates his ethical code to go against his family. If Watie’s men decide to raid Kansas, his family will be on the receiving end. Even before Jeff makes the decision to go back, he faces the pressure to tear up Federal money. Although the rebels around him are pushing him to destroy the money, it represents the country he is fighting for and he can’t do it. At the end of Chapter 22, just as Jeff prepares to leave, he sees Lucy, the one person who might have the power to sway him.
