Rifles for Watie is a children's novel by American writer Harold Keith. It was first published in 1957, and received the Newbery Medal the following year. Set during the American Civil War, the story revolves around a Kansas teenager who experiences the hardships and horrors of war. The book is notable for its focus on the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in the American Civil War and the complex history of Native Americans fighting for both the Union and Confederacy.
Earnest, plain-spoken sixteen-year-old Jeff Bussey has finally gotten his father’s consent to join the Union volunteers. It’s 1861 in Linn County, Kansas, and Jeff is eager to fight for the North before the war is over, which he’s sure will be soon.
But weeks turn to months, the marches through fields and woods prove endless, hunger and exhaustion seem to take up permanent residence in Jeff’s bones, and he learns what it really means to fight in battle—and to lose friends. When he finds himself among enemy troops, he discovers the enemy is much like himself—only fighting for a different cause. As Jeff puts his life on the line to advance, he wonders if he will be able to betray his new rebel companions when the time comes for him to return to the Union forces.
Tropes:
- Child Soldier: Jeff is only 16 years old when he decides to enlist in the Union Army. Truth in Television as early on in the American Civil War, many males under the age of 18 enlisted in the Union and Confederate armies.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Against all odds, Jeff survives the war and returns to his family.
- Grey-and-Grey Morality: Jeff finds that the war between the North and South is not as black-and-white as he thought.
- War Is Hell: Jeff experiences the hardships and horrors of fighting in the American Civil War.
