First, let’s acknowledge the initial issue in Ang Lee’s Ride with the Devil. The film invites us into the perspective of Southerners who are defending slavery, referred to as Bushwhackers, during the 1850s and the Civil War. Portrayed as ruggedly handsome, these longhaired men are fighting with guerilla warfare not only for their land, but also for women and children, for their families and their communities.
And these featured figures are facing opposition that is not afraid to use terror. The Union soldiers and radical abolitionists like John Brown are employing guerilla warfare tactics, raiding farms and burning down towns. In one scene today, we saw similar violence. Then, we saw that Union forces likely know a woman and child are in a house sheltering the Bushwhackers. They still open fire. They start firing again before the woman and child are clear. Moreover, antislavery forces have likely killed noncombatants (those not armed) by accident using such tactics and knowing the possibilities. Murdering men and razing property they’ve left women and children in extremely dangerous circumstances on the frontier.
Obviously it goes without saying that slavery is abhorrent. Yes, it certainly factors in and should be considered. It's in play, but it is not likely the main issue on the table here. Rather, the Bushwhackers deeply and authentically believe in their cause. To them, this cause is the world they know, built on long held views and virtues. It’s not only practical, but also moral and, in some cases, even grounded in the bible and Christianity.
The question at hand: What are the limits (razing towns? destroying property? killing men rather than disarming or capturing them?, etc.) to which the Bushwhackers should be able to go in defending their commitments, especially when their deepest and and most authentic personal, political, and religious beliefs as well as the lives of their families, communities and societies are directly threatened by Union figures who seem comfortable with razing towns, destroying property and killing indiscriminately? One goal for some of these Union forces is, after all, to drive Southerners from the land completely and even to murder them for reasons that these Northerners feel are justified.