George Washington fought against the British.
He took these, seemingly conflicting, actions for one reason: he loved his country."
Right, Washington loved his whole country, from Massachusetts to Georgia, and only began to oppose the Brits after they committed a long list of crimes against it (see, for example, the Declaration of Independence).
By stark contrast Jefferson Davis arbitrarily redefined his "country" as just seven states in the Deep South, and accepted presidency of his new "country" without the USA having committed even a single "crime" against those states.
But here's the real difference: Washington was a Federalist, today's Republicans.
Davis was a Democrat, opposed from Day One to the USA as defined by its 1787 Constitution, and was willing to wage war against us, for his own purposes.