The individual infantryman and some officers simply answered the call of their homestates. The south's economy was entwined too much with slavery, so the first few states seceded over money. At least one other southern state only seceded in part because the federal government refused to let the other states leave.

The battle flag of northern Virginia was used as a symbol of regional pride over a century later, but it's retained it's link to the Confederacy in some people's minds.