Nice assessment, Frank. In addition to the "ingrown eyeballs" there was sheer self-interest. The most vocal objection to Cleburne's proposal came from the slave owners. They didn't oppose the Conscription Act of 1862 (after ensuring, of course, that their overseers would be exempt from conscription) -- apparently it was okay for non-slaveholding farmers to protect the economic interests of the slave owners, but to pony up some slaves to protect those interests? Whoa, let's not let the survival of the country get in the way of profit.