While northern soldiers had no love for slavery, most of them had no love for slaves either. They fought for Union and against treason; only a minority in 1862 felt any interest in fighting for black freedom. Rare was the soldier who shared the sentiments of a Wisconsin private: “I have no heart in this war if the slaves cannot be free.” More common was the conviction of a New York soldier that “we must first conquer & then its time enough to talk about the dam’d niggers.”
