Bryan --
Thanks for your reply. "Preserving the Union" at any cost and other reasons for fighting lend support for the Federal government's war policy of coercion. Maybe I should have used the word 'ideology' rather than 'politics'.
Something is wrong with a soldier who spends time feeling sorry for the enemy, but your letters from a tour of duty overseas in the 1960s helps us understand how Federal soldiers may have felt while serving in the boonies of Arkansas. Most were suspicious of the natives and wouldn't have thought twice about turning large portions of the state into a desert if it would help end the war. They didn't think of Southerners as being Americans who simply happened to disagree with them on politics.
With your permission I will contact you about this off-line.