The Civil War is a very fascinating part of history.  As a child, I became fascinated with it because of Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves. I suppose part of my fascination as a child was that the nuns taught us that the war was fought to free the slaves. 
When it came to slaves, I didn't think of them as all being black. Very few blacks in N.M. then. I held this belief because in our tribe, villages and family we knew that the Spanish and the Mexicans had enslaved Native Americans. We knew that among the tribes there had been slaves. 
 I read every book I could find about the people on both sides. I made a report on Stonewall Jackson
I never looked at either side as being good or bad. Maybe because after the Civil War, so many people moved West. I may have considered it more of an invasion by the US Military.  
I kept my interest in the Civil War, eventually I visited the Ford Theater and the room across the street where Lincoln died.  My opinion is the war was anything but "Civil"