Concerning the motive of many men from Western Virginia, and of men from what is now West Virginia, Johnston writes, "As it has already been stated, when our people entered upon the war it was with vim and vigor---not counting the cost. It was to them simply the question of defending Virginia, and Virginia's soil from the threatened invasion of a Northern Army; and to preserve our rights and liberties as free people, and for which our ancestors had shed their blood in our contest with Great Britain. It was not a war on the part of our people to preserve or perpetuate slavery, for thousands of our best and bravest soldiers, nor their ancestors had ever owned a slave. We were forced to the choice of which master we should serve---we could not serve both. We regarded our primary allegiance due to the state which, with the other states, had given life and existence to the Federal agent that now proposed to turn upon, crush and destroy its creators. These were the arguments and presentations of the question at that time. For these contentions our people stood ready to surrender their lives, their all, save honor, and fought to the finish, only yielding to overpowering and overwhelming force, but not surrendering an iota of the principles for which they so long, as faithfully and bravely battled. These principles are just as sacred today as they ever were, they were not lost by the results of the war, only the effort to maintain and establish them by the arbitrament of the sword was a failure" (Johnston 188).