[Ace's Dad]

as he often called it “his country”

I'm hardly an expert, but I've never heard this: Reference?

[Sola Veritas]

“I’m hardly an expert, but I’ve never heard this: Reference?”

In Ken Burn’s documentary “The Civil War” he has several clips of the writer/historian Shelby Foote (since deceased) that speaks of this. Foote is a pretty reliable source.