The most emphasized type of loyalty throughout both books is the loyalty the men hold to their respective sides, for the confederates this is their individual state, while on the Union's side loyalty to the Union, and the democratic ideals, trumps their loyalty to their states in times of crisis. The southern states main reason for secession was the perceived infringement on their State’s Rights. However, of the Southern Generals the novels focus on, only General Jackson sees this as the Cause, the others only fight for the South because they refuse to fight against their State. Their reasons for fighting are exemplified best in Gods and Generals, as it focus on the approach of the Civil War allowing it to give an indepth look of why each man chose to fight for the South. …show more content…
However, though he may not agree with the choice, he will follow Virginia because “[He] would never allow [himself] to bring violence upon [his] home of Virginia” (Shaara J 80). The people living in Virginia are his family and his loyalty to them overrules his oath to protect the Union, however, these sentiments end up failing as a majority of the war takes place in the South, especially Virginia. The analysis in Novels for Students, essay on The Killer Angels sums his feelings up best, stating “Lee fights not from some grandiose notion of states' rights but simply because he refused to take up arms against Virginians, his own kith and kin” (“The Killer Angels”). Though it may come across as a simplistic version of his thought it is a fullly accurate summation. While Lee may not fully support the Southern Cause, his refusal to attack his home state gave him no real choice in which side of the war he would