For example, as the Union army moves into camp, Kilrain informs Chamberlain that a slave has been found, which then prompts them to strike up a conversation about this. On the subject of race, Kilrain believes that man “cannot judge a race. Any man who judges based on group is an idiot. You take men one by one, and I've seen a few black people who have earned my respect. A few. Little. But a few. Kilrain also suggests that "liberated blacks will prove no better than most of the whites who fought to free them." Kilrain, himself a foreigner, feels compelled to fight this war to prove to others that "he is a better man than many, and it is very possible that he is clearly referring to blacks, for the Northerners are are now worried about seeing freed blacks take up job opportunities.»