McClellan's War: The Failure of Moderation in the Struggle for the Union by Ethan S. Rafuse thorougly addresses the issue that the object of the war for Democratic Party military men was to achieve a military victory that would bring the South back into the Union without a disruption of slavery. For these men losing the war would be an independent Confederacy OR would be Southern states returning to the Union with severly disrupted social and economic conditions. This book is highly recommended by CWL. Hardcover copies are available at Amazon.com for under six bucks.
