More than 80,000 Mississippians fought in the American Civil War. Fear that white supremacy might be lost were among the reasons that men joined the Confederate Army. Men who owned more property, including slaves, were more likely to volunteer. Men in Mississippi's river counties, regardless of their wealth or other characteristics, joined at lower rates than those living in the state's interior. River-county residents were especially vulnerable and apparently left their communities for safer areas (and sometimes moved out of the Confederacy) rather than face invasion.