The South was for the most part fighting a defensive war.

Answer 1

This is tricky in that you need to understand the denotation of 'defensive war'. A defensive war would be an act of aggressive retaliation to an other state that has attacked the said state. An example is when Germany invaded France in 1940. In retaliation France fought back aggressively, later with a few of their friends. In difference to nation/states fighting our Civil War was because a number of our own states wanted to secede from our union. It was not German against French but American against American.

It is the denotation that makes the statement "The South was for the most part fighting a defensive war." false.

Answer 2

Under Kellog Brand , internatinal law, and the Nuremberg indictment precedents, for Germany waging aggressive war, as a model, Lincoln, Grant et al would have been hung or shot by firing squads for war crimes. Sherman probably tar & feathered, drawn & quartered before hung from the highest tree.

But it's traditional that only the victors execute the vanquished. If you lose a war, the victor's war criminals go free. And the Losing side gets prosecuted.