Allow me to make a few points. The first being when letters of marque are issued, the crew is considered part of that nation's naval forces. (As was John Paul Jones much to the vehement protests of the British Royal Navy, who considered him a pirate.) Secondly, the remains of German soldiers are found and buried periodically to this day under the German flag even though they lost the war and Hitler's peccadillos were far worse than Jeff Davis' ever though of being. The ordinary soldier was fighting for the Confederacy because he felt his home was threatened. The Confederate government was fighting for "States rights" The particular right being slavery. All of that having been said, it must be noted that when the Civil War started and even before, when the Confederate states seceded, they did so because they didn't like who the people elected as president. It gets a bit convoluted. Also, they were military men in that P.G.T. Beauregard commissioned them to undertake the mission in the Hunley in an attempt to break the Union blockade of Charleston. They deserve to be laid to rest with military homours under the flag they served (At that time I believe it was the second national flag) Kindest reguards and thanks for a very fine discussion, Neil PS- I'm a big Clive Cussler fan and his work with NUMA makes that doubly so!