How the goals of the civil war impact soldier motivation at the front?

Answer 1

It was always much simpler for the Confederates. From start to finish, they were fighting to defend their homeland against the invader, and this kept them fiercely motivated until they were barefoot and starving.

The Northern soldier had no such powerful and emotive cause to defend. At the start, he was trying to save the Union - which largely meant the cotton revenues. As the war dragged on and the casualties mounted, this was not really enough, and Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, turning the war into an official crusade against slavery. Although that was chiefly a war-tactic to shame the British out of helping the South, he was also hoping that it would raise morale among troops and civilians alike. But the mid-term elections did not indicate any new rush of Abolitionism.

In the end, it was not high morale but simply bigger armies that brought Northern victory.