[Non-Sequitur]

=On the other hand, there might not have been a Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII and the so-called Cold War, had the South prevailed. We'll never know

And on the other hand there might have been a second American war, a third American war, a fourth and a fifth. Lenin might have still risen, the cold war might have come about, or worse.

=Fort Sumter was, unfortunately, the Union's perfect excuse to generate war Between the States. Offers of negotiation from the South were disdained and the fort resupplied by a nation other than that in which the fort resided. Clearly to antagonize the South.

Yet Davis still fired. He entered willingly into a war that his own secretary of state warned him was suicidal. Lincoln didn't kill the confederacy, Davis did.

[varina davis]

=You are correct that the odds were heavily stacked against the Confederacy and the same might be said of multitudes of courageous stands taken through the history of the world.

="Only an athiest contends that victory is a criterion of right." -- Dabney

=The fact that the Union declared victory does not necessarily ensure that its actions were "right."

=There is little doubt that many well-meaning folks believed in the Union incursion -- the loss of thousands of lives sadly testifies to that.