Gibson County Courthouse & Confederate Memorial in Trenton, Tennessee! Historians widely acknowledge that Confederate soldiers fought primarily to defend their homeland from what they perceived as an unjust Northern invasion, protecting their families, homes, farms, and communities from the advancing Union armies. They often described Union soldiers in their letters and diaries as "Vandals," "Hessians," or "fiendish invaders" threatening their firesides, property, and way of life. Many viewed th