11. Johnny Reb was far more likely to desert and go home
Over the course of the Civil War soldiers of the Confederate Army were more likely to desert, returning to their homes and refusing to continue to serve. In Appalachia some irregular units were formed from Southern deserters to defend themselves against the Confederate Army. Officially just over 100,000 men were listed as deserters in the Confederacy over the course of the war. Unofficially, President Jefferson Davis admitted in late 1864 that more than two thirds of the Confederate army were absent without leave, having abandoned their units and gone home to protect their families from Union raids and scavengers among the population of the South.
