Why I love Rifles for Watie
Rifles for Watie is easily one of my favorite novels of all time. What gives it its unique flavor is how author Harold Keith combines historical accuracy with lifelike characters to produce an insightful look into an often-overlooked theater of the Civil War.
Exploring an overlooked area of the Civil War
Harold Keith went the extra mile with research for this book, visiting battle sites, reading diaries of soldiers who had fought in the trans-Mississippi theater, and actually interviewing surviving Civil War soldiers. While naturally small liberties have to sometimes be taken in a work of historical fiction, Rifles for Watie is, by and large, extremely accurate. What is excellent about Rifles for Watie is that while it remains a very accurate read, Keith doesn’t trade rivet-counting accuracy for readability. Instead, Keith takes readers on the literary ride of a lifetime — all while covering lesser-known subjects such as Kansas bushwhackers and the involvement of Native American tribes during the war.
Bringing the time period to life
History is far from simple. In any given conflict, there are good people — as well as utterly-despicable people — on both sides. Keith does a masterful job portraying the nuances of both sides of the Civil War by showing us the good, the bad, and the ugly in one highly-visceral picture. In Rifles for Watie, characters are not merely “good” or “evil” but rather fully-human. The one exception to this rule would be the main character’s arch-nemesis: Captain Asa Clardy. Clardy is the perfect archetype of a literary villain: cunning, cruel, bile-filled, and capable of commanding every scene he is in like a bomb about to explode.
An unforgettable main character
The book’s main character is Jefferson Bussey — a sixteen year old farm boy from Kansas. When he first enlists, Jeff is fiercely patriotic, but naïve when it comes to war, as this telling bit of dialogue between Jeff and the enlistment doctor shows:
“‘Come on, kid,’ the old doctor said to Jeff, ‘you shall have all the war you want.’
‘Yes, sir!’ said Jeff.
…’Humph!’ grunted the old doctor as he worked. ‘Lots of fellers nowdays can’t wait to put on some blue clothes and go out and shoot at perfect strangers.’ …’Are you one of ’em?’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Jeff promptly. ‘I want to shoot at them before they shoot at me.'” (Keith 21)
For all his naivety, Jeff is an extremely likable main character. He generally believes the best of people and has a guileless way about him that endears him to many of the older recruits in his unit — with the notable exception of Captain Clardy. Jeff’s character drives Clardy irate and touches off a series of encounters with increasingly-dire odds at stake.
In the four years the book covers, Jeff undergoes a complete metamorphosis from innocent Kansas farm boy to weathered soldier. During his time in the Union army, Jeff’s tour of service includes an impressive list of experiences: service in the infantry, a brief stint aiding an artillery battery, service in the cavalry, in the scouts, and finally as a Union spy embedded in Stand Watie’s 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles. As the old enlistment doctor foretells at the beginning of the book, by the end, Jeff has had more than his fill of war and is irrevocably changed by it. Yet somehow, in some sense, he still feels like the same likable farm boy from the beginning — only much wiser and more seasoned. To me, this is proof-positive of Keith’s evocative force as a writer. Jeff isn’t just another flat character; Jeff feels real from beginning to end.
Content notes
This period in our nation’s history is a complicated one and, rather than glossing it over, Rifles for Watie accurately reflects that. Issues such as slavery and Native American displacement go from theory to painful reality when Jeff runs up against each of these during the course of the book. In keeping with the time period, the n****r word is used a handful of times, but is never condoned. Instead, Keith throws the full force of his writing powers behind demonstrating how all men are of equal value and worth — despite what narrow-minded people might say.
Rifles for Watie is also filled with realistic depictions of Civil War combat. While not gratuitous in his description of violence, emotionally, Keith pulls no punches. After Jeff’s first battle, the reader feels exactly like Jeff does:
“Noah (an older soldier in Jeff’s unit) towered over him like a tall wraith, his brown eyes grave.
‘Well, youngster. You joined up to fight in a battle. Now that you’ve been in one, how’ja like it?”
Jeff raised an ashen face and shook his head positively. ‘Noah, anyone that ever joins anything is crazy. I’ll lay in the woods until the moss grows on my back a foot long before I’ll ever join anything again.’ He felt that being alive was the biggest miracle in the world.” (Keith 138-139)
Because Rifle for Watie is full of critical thinking situations that will challenge students’ preconceptions about the Civil War, we waited to schedule this book until the Junior year of high school, where students are at a more mature place to process such things.
Conclusion
Rifles for Watie presents an insightful look at the American Civil War through the eyes of an extremely-relatable main character. It stands out to me both because of its gripping storytelling and its raw authenticity. The novel doesn’t dodge the hard issues, but rather deals with them honestly without becoming revisionist. It not only entertains, but also teaches so that the reader grows along with Jeff. For all these reasons (and many more), Rifles for Watie remains one of my favorite novels of all time.
Where in HOD can you find this book?
You can find Rifles for Watie in the boy option of our English packages in our US History I guide.
References:
Keith, Harold. Rifles for Watie. (HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1957).
PS: For those who are into audio books, I would highly recommend the version narrated by Tom Stechschulte. You can find it here.
