Rifles for Watie

At the beginning of the novel, Jeff believes that there is only one right side in the narrative of the Civil War. He associates the Union with the protection of everything he knows and loves and the Confederacy with that which threatens his family and way of life. Throughout the war, however, Jeff discovers that the two sides are not so clear and distinct, and neither are their reasons for fighting. He meets kind, caring people on both sides of the war. Gardner shows Jeff that they can associate peacefully with rebel sentries one day and kill them the next. As a traitor, Clardy serves one side while appearing to serve another. When Jeff is undercover in Watie’s outfit, he performs as a Confederate soldier. This means that his actions work toward furthering the Confederate cause in literal, material ways despite his internal loyalty to the Union. The novel draws a distinction between Jeff’s betrayal of the Confederacy and Clardy’s betrayal of the Union, largely due to the nobility of their motives.

Jeff represents a blending of the two sides as two facets of the same country. His name, Jefferson Davis Bussey, is a conflict in and of itself since he is named after the president of the Confederacy.