What I want to learn

As i begin to work on this project, I have many questions im asking. I hope that by studying this some of them, if not all will be answered. As of now my over all question is, "What do the books about the Civil War tell us about that time period?" Seeing as though this is a wide search I hope that by breaking it up into five questions maybe this will help widen my knowledge.

1. Did the slaves who joined the war make the difference in the outcome of it?
2. Why did more soldiers die of infections rather than the wounds themselves?
3. Did the Anaconda Plan cause the soldiers of the Confederacy want to surrender? Why?
4. How did Sherman's march break the will of the confederates?
5. If General Lee hadn't surrendered would the war have ended in someone elses favor?