Political Memes

whatever crimes you think they’ve done, they’ve paid for it already in a permanent way

Have they, though? Death isn't exactly unique. Regardless of how good or bad a person you are, everybody has death as their final fate. So dying for a shitty cause isn't exactly punishment, considering that people who were in favor of a good cause still met the same fate. Death isn't a punishment for being a shitty person, it's just a birthright.

I also think most common soldiers in the confederate army fought for no higher reason than they were drafted and had little choice

Ok, but you know who else was drafted and had little choice? The people who defected. Some of those same people worked to further the cause of abolition by operating the underground railroad. Some of them wound up in prison, and some of them were hanged. I don't have any sympathy whatsoever for someone who lacked the courage or morality to fight against evil. And I have even less sympathy for someone stupid enough to fall for basic bitch propaganda like what you described.