Neil, Battalion and I will keep pecking away until your blue eyes have a hint of gray.....
You wrote:
"I have no problem with the idea that Southern soldiers were serving in what they thought was a just and honorable cause. Just as I have no problem with the idea the Northern soldiers thought they were serving a just and honorable cause. It is just that history has acknowledged that the Southern soldiers were fighting for the wrong one.
While they fought for this wrong cause, it does not in any way detract from their bravery or courage and does not take away from their many acts of compassion on the battlefield. They should be honored for those acts alone and remembered for them.
But the cause they fought for should not be swept away in our rush to honor them, or we won't learn anything and we will pass along an unfocused lesson of history."
In my still humble opinion, Southern soldiers fought for many right causes, as we have discussed many times before. Yes, for the lebenty seventh time, the overlying relationship of the results of southern efforts with respect to the notion that slavery was part of the war effort can not be denied, nor will I attempt to do so. The CAUSE was not so simple and I submit was by no means totally focused on slavery as you continue to champion as a conclusion of your many years of study in this regard. At least from the perspective of the Confederate soldier, slavery was not the central theme causing him to risk life, limbs and the family farm. Politicians and you northern folks seem to enjoy arguing otherwise. Us Cornfeds still don't completely agree.