Jim --

You may not have seen the exchange but several weeks ago I posted an explanation for why these men fought in the words of Colonel Wm. C. Oates. His explanation as offered to a former Federal officer several decades after the war ran along the lines you are describing here but was roundly condemned on 'News and Views'.

I'm pleased to see that you're interested in this topic, but wish more people were open to a civil discussion of it.