Rifles for Watie

A week later, Jeff hears horses approaching. He hopes it’s a supply train since food rations are low and everyone is hungry, but it is the cavalry riding into town. They dismount, and a voice calls Jeff’s name. After a moment, he recognizes David Gardner, who has served his time for deserting and been conscripted into the cavalry at Fort Scott. Gardner hasn’t been home since they were there on furlough. They see a Native American girl gathering corn dropped from the horses’ feed, and Jeff tells Gardner that they are starving, and over 6,000 Indian refugees are desperate for food. Gardner tells him that owning a horse is no longer a requirement for joining the cavalry and that, in fact, they have arrived to train some of the infantry to join the mounted battalions. Jeff relays this to Noah Babbitt, who tells Jeff that he prefers to walk as riding makes him dizzy.

Although Jeff grew up riding horses, the cavalry drills are new to him, but the horse seems to know what he is supposed to do. Jeff supposes that the horse is “smarter than any sergeant on the premises” (218). However, Jeff has trouble handling the long saber he is supposed to brandish from his horse. Jeff is amazed at the lieutenant’s dexterity with the weapon, although no one else in the outfit comes close to his skill. He laughs at Babbitt, who is awkward and uncomfortable on his horse. Jeff and the rest of the new cavalry go to work right away despite minimal training. Watie’s rebels have been attacking Union camps relentlessly, trying to force the Union armies to retreat to Fort Gibson where they will have few supplies, and leave the Cherokee Indian Nation for the rebels to take control. One afternoon, while on duty, Jeff spots something burning in the distance. He and several other cavalrymen ride off to investigate and discover a dead mare with two colts still trying to nurse from her. They hear a woman screaming and find a family outside of their burning house. A grandmother tries to console the hysterical mother, clustered with a young boy around the body of a dead man lying on the ground.

Frightened, the older woman flinches at the approaching soldiers until she sees that they are Union. The dead patriarch is Frank Brandt, a Union soldier in the Union Indian Brigade who returned home on furlough to help the family farm. Babbitt calms the wife and takes the family inside the smokehouse. Watie’s rebels “had ridden up suddenly, surrounded [Brandt], and shot him while his family stood begging for his life” (222). The raiding party took their food, bedding, and valuables. The rebels stole a cow, but the mare had only given birth a few days ago so they killed her instead. Jeff spots another young boy, hiding and clutching his stomach. Jeff asks, “What’s the matter?” (223), and the boy’s older brother tells him that the rebels claimed that when the Union soldiers arrived, they would “rip his belly open with their swords” (223). Jeff reassures the child, named Jackie, that the raiders were lying, and the older boy, Johnny, agrees. Jackie is still afraid, but Johnny shows his own stomach to prove that Jeff won’t hurt him.

Johnny tells Jeff that the rebels took his father’s rifle. Jeff takes the boys out to see his horse as Johnny babbles about the events of the afternoon. By nightfall, the family is riding toward the fort and Mr. Brandt has been buried in the yard. As they leave, Babbitt asks what they ought to do about the two orphaned colts. Sergeant Pike says reluctantly, “They’s too young to travel or graze. If we leave ‘em, they’d only starve or the wolves ud get ‘em” (225). Finally, one of the soldiers, a farmer, says, “Aw cripes, I’ll do it” (225). He asks for some extra bullets and goes out to the barnyard. They hear the shots, which causes the wolves to begin howling. Six hours later, they arrive at the fort. The boys are asleep, but their mother sits rigid and staring. As Jeff falls asleep in his tent, he thinks about Lucy and whether her brother might have been in the rebel party that attacked the Brandts. He decides that if Lee Washbourne is anything like Lucy, he wouldn’t have been. Jeff thinks again that he wishes he could find the Washbourne son and makes the decision to ask Babbitt about it the next day.

A few days later, Jeff is on sentry when David Gardner approaches. He invites Jeff to go and speak with some of the rebel sentries. Appalled, Jeff tells Gardner that he’s afraid of them, reminding him that he could be in trouble if he leaves his station. Gardner assures him that his post is covered and that they often go over to talk to the Confederate pickets. Gardner tells Jeff that some of the sentries are mean, but the ones on guard tonight are friendly. Jeff asks what they talk about, and Gardner replies, “Oh—jist everything—girls, rations, officers, the weather. How the common soljers on each side is the victims in the war” (228). But more than anything, they discuss their loved ones at home. They often trade coffee, which is scarce in the south, with tobacco, which is scarce in the north. They also joke and tease each other. Jeff agrees to go, thinking that they might have news about Lee Washbourne that he can take back to Lucy.

Gardner calls across the river, and a Confederate sentry responds. Jeff is anxious, regretting having agreed to go with Gardner, but they wade in and approach each other. Gardner calls the rebel guard “Johnny,” and the guard responds by calling him “Yank.” They trade their goods and ask each other which outfit the other is in. Jeff asks him if he knows Lee Washbourne, and he doesn’t, but summons another soldier who is in Watie’s outfit. The second sentry tells Jeff that Lee didn’t return from a scouting mission three weeks ago. The rebel officers believe he was taken prisoner but haven’t been able to get in touch with Union officers to negotiate a trade. Jeff had hoped for more information, but he is glad to have something to tell Lucy. After they say goodbye, Jeff asks Gardner if meeting like that won’t make it difficult to fight each other in battle. Gardner says, “Naw, if we met in battle tomorrey, we’d still be tryin’ to cut each other’s hearts out. This was jest a recess” (232).

A week later, as they are sitting around the fire, Captain Clardy unexpectedly asks Bill Earle to sing for everyone. Surprised, Bill agrees. As he begins to sing, Jeff thinks about an earlier moment when Clardy claimed, “Singin’ soldiers won’t fight” (233), and he wonders distrustfully what Clardy is doing. After a few songs, a baritone from the rebel camp begins to sing too, joining in with Earle’s tenor voice. They sing several songs together, mixing their voices in harmony. Quietly, Gardner tells Jeff that he knows the rebel baritone, whose name is Chasteen. Sleepless that night, Jeff wonders again why Clardy asked for singing. A sergeant wakes Jeff the next morning early for “special duty” (235). Jeff is full of dread, which he attributes to the weather. He meets Earle and they wonder what is happening. Babbitt suggests that Clardy may have decided to execute a deserter.

A fife and drum play a sad tune that a corporal identifies as the “Dead March.” Jeff sees four men carrying a pine casket and a firing squad. One of the men in the firing squad has a gun with a blank cartridge, so they don’t know for sure who carries out the execution. A prisoner looks around, and Jeff realizes that he is just a boy. Another soldier tells the others that the boy is a Confederate spy. A blindfold is tied around his face. Suddenly, Clardy swears as a member of the firing squad faints. Clardy orders Jeff to take his place, but Jeff, appalled, refuses to fire at someone who has been bound and incapacitated. The soldier who passed out has stood up again, so Clardy growls that he will arrest Jeff after the execution. The squad fires, killing the prisoner, and the company must file past the body in the casket. Jeff sees a pile of the boy’s things and with dismay, discovers a pocket watch engraved with the name Lee Washbourne.

Quickly, before Clardy arrests him, Jeff gives Babbitt cash so that he can pay old Belie to claim Lee’s body and return him to the Washbournes. Babbitt agrees, and Jeff adds, “And be sure to have her explain to his folks that you, nor I, nor none of our enlisted men here had anything to do with this awful thing” (240). Knowing that Lucy will find him responsible regardless, Jeff submits to his arrest. He imagines Belie’s journey and when the family will receive the sad news. Clardy sentences Jeff to give up a month of pay, lug two heavy saddles around in the heat, and bury any horses that die. Jeff is tied to a tree branch by his thumbs, but the guard hates Clardy and loosens the rope until Clardy returns.

When Jeff’s punishment ends, he learns that General Blunt has returned from protecting a supply train from Watie’s troops. Furthermore, news of the rebel defeat at Gettysburg, the Union capture of Vicksburg, and a Confederate defeat in Arkansas has strengthened the Union’s stronghold. Later, while Jeff is on sentry with Dixie, he sees General Blunt sitting outside his tent writing with a cup of tea. Dixie is also watching Blunt, and suddenly rushes over and sticks her face in his cup of tea. Blunt yells, and a dog barks from inside his tent. Dixie runs off. Horrified, Jeff slinks away. In the morning, Jeff receives the order to report to Blunt. With dread, Jeff dresses, wondering what his punishment will be this time.