Despite the hardships and horrors of war, most Southern soldiers stayed the course, believing that they had a duty to the South and the folks at home. “Our family circle has been broken,” noted one Confederate soldier in a letter to his wife. “We believe that somewhere and sometime we must make a final stand in this great struggle. If we are brave men entitled to independence and resolved to win it or perish, here and now [we] will stand or fall.” Loved ones at home waited in fear and suspense, praying that the last good-bye would not be a final one. For an estimated 290,000 sons of the South, the parting did indeed prove final - but such was their dedication to defend home and family. “I...hate to go,” one soldier admitted to his wife. “But as I am in the service of my country, I am willing to go where I am needed most....”

“The Confederate soldier knows the elements of his success - courage, endurance and devotion,” observed a Confederate veteran. “He knows also by whom he was defeated - sickness, starvation, death. (He) will have for all time, in all places where generosity is, a fame untarnished.”