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Does anyone seriously believe that thousands of Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio farm boys (not to mention the Irish in the cities) would have enlisted, marched South, fought, bled, and died to free the slaves?

They didn't start the war either. If you're looking for causes of the conflict, you won't find them in why one particular soldier went to war.

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No one claims that farm boys from Iowa, etc caused or started the war. To make such a claim is idiotic beyond belief. They responded to a call from the Federal Government; but they responded and marched not to free the slaves but to save the Union.