Lincoln aloud the border states Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky and later West Virginia to continue to own slaves as an enticement to stay in the Union. The consequence of this reality was that in virtually every major battle of the Civil War, Confederate soldiers who did not own slaves were fighting against a proportion of Union Army soldiers who had not been asked to give theirs up.
So what did this say to the individual soldier in Gray about the importance of slavery to President Lincoln?
So what did this say to the individual soldier in Gray about the importance of slavery to President Lincoln?
Nonetheless, the rough correlation was pretty clear. Areas where there were more slaves and slaveowners tended to be for secession and the Confederacy. Those where slaveowners and slaves were fewer were more likely to be for the union.
I'd venture to say that it would have been a rare battle where the number of slaveowners in union ranks approached the number in rebel gray.
But by 1863, the handwriting was on the wall. If you were a slaveowner who cast his lot with the union, you probably had a good understanding that you weren't fighting to preserve slavery, and that your own actions would likely lead to slavery's end.
You may be making one of those "they weren't so pure" arguments. But "purity" isn't the point here. If we are supposed to respect those who fought for the Confederate cause because of their bravery or integrity, why demean other Southerners who may have owned slaves but fought, in the larger picture, against slave power?