re: On this day 160 years ago, the most savage battle of the Civil War was waged in Virginia

The reason many southern states seceded was due to the fact the rich land owners there who made up the governing as well as the plantation class were afraid they were going to lose their slaves. The north would not allow secession for any reason, and thus the war was fought. Your average southerner who did the fighting could care less about the human property at the time of rich land owners, but make no mistake that is exactly what caused the war. Well that and the fact the north refused to allow the Union to be split.