We should address the question of how many of those dirty poor Southern boys owned slaves, and were fighting to keep those slaves they didn’t own?
How many poor Northern boys didn’t give a tinker’s damn about the slaves, and were not on some moral crusade to liberate them?
Just like any war, there were young men who faced each other across battlefields, urinating on themselves and seeing another face, much like their own and wondering if the cause they were fighting for was just.
“..how many of those dirty poor Southern boys owned slaves...”
Most of them didn’t.
“...How many poor Northern boys didn’t give a tinker’s damn about the slaves...”
Most of THEM didn’t either.
I’m reminded of Shelby Foote’s recounting of a comment from a Southern soldier, who had been captured, when asked “Why are you fighting to keep slaves?”
“Slaves? I don’t nothing about slaves.”
“So why are you fighting, then?”
“Because you’re down here.”
I’d imagine most of those Boys in Grey thought much the same way.