Rifles for Watie

Keith, Harold

ISBN 10: 0812455487 ISBN 13: 9780812455489

Publisher: Turtleback Books, 1987

Synopsis

Jefferson Davis Bussey is sixteen when the Civil War breaks out. He can't wait to leave his Kansas farm and defend the Union against Colonel Watie, the leader of the dreaded Cherokee Indian rebels.

But Jeff soon learns that there's more to our war than honor and glory. As an infantry soldier, he must march for miles, exhausted and near starvation. He sees friends die in battle. He knows that each move he makes could be his last. Then Jeff is sent to infiltrate the enemy camp as a spy. And it is there that he makes his most important discovery: The rebels are just men - and boys - like him. The only difference between them is their cause. Passing himself off as a rebel, Jeff waits for the information he needs to help the Union conquer the enemy forces. But when the time comes, Jeff finds himself up against a very difficult decision. Should he betray the enemy? Or join them?

About this title

Review:

"This full-length junior novel should hold a place with the best Civil War fiction for young people. The fighting takes place in the West. . . . A young farm boy joins the Union forces, becomes a scout, and thus temporarily part of Stand Watie's Cherokee Rebels. There is suspense in the telling and many a colorful character." -- "H."

About the Author:

Harold Keith grew up near the Cherokee country he describes in Rifles for Watie.A native Oklahoman, he was edu-cated at Northwestern State Teachers College at Alva and at the University of Oklahoma.

While traveling in eastern Oklahoma doing research on his master's thesis in history, Mr. Keith found a great deal of fresh material about the Civil War in the Indian country. Deciding he might someday write a historical novel, he interviewed twenty--two Civil War veterans then living in Oklahoma and Arkansas; much of the background of Rifles for Watiecame from the note-books he filled at that time. The actual writing of this book took five years.

Since 1930, the author has been sports publicity director at the University of Oklahoma. He is married and has a son and daughter.

About this edition

• Publisher: Turtleback Books
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0812455487
• ISBN 13: 9780812455489
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 332