Let me explain it a little differently. If the average day labor rate in 1860 was a dollar a day, let's say it's $100 a day currently. This is my attempt to try to find a scale that can be understood. If a young adult male slave was worth $2,000 in 1860, today his worth would be about $200,000.
Pam that's $200,000, and totally uninsured. If he dies or is injured or impaired in some way, that money is gone.
Even if you are independently wealthy, can you imagine risking that kind of investment for no particular gain? Wouldn't a reasonably sound-minded person send his body servant to the rear when the shooting began?