When Lincoln used the wonderful phrase "the last full measure of devotion" to characterize the sacrifices of the men who died at Gettysburg during the battle in July, 1863, he was well aware that the "cause" for which individual soldiers fought varied widely from soldier to soldier. But within the Federal armies, most rank-and-file soldiers felt that the reunification of the Union was the primary goal, and freedom of the slaves was, for many, a secondary or even tertiary goal. It surprises many people today to discover that, even though the abolition of slavery was a strong movement in the North, many soldiers had no particular feeling about slavery at all, a sentiment that is mirrored even by Confederate soldiers, most of whom did not come from slave-owning families.
Several scholars—most notably, James McPherson in For Cause and Comrades—have reviewed thousands of letters and diary entries of soldiers on both sides and conclude that, on a statistical basis, there is no one "cause" that clearly animates a majority group. But, taken as a whole, most soldiers—North and South—felt that they were engaged in a patriotic struggle: for Northern soldiers, that meant preserving the Union created by the American Revolution, and for many Southern soldiers, patriotism centered on the rights of their states to self-government.
Because Northern soldiers were, by and large, unfamiliar with the horrors of slavery—simply because the Northern economy was not dependent upon slave labor—freeing slaves was not a primary concern for most Northern troops. Likewise, because most rank-and-file Confederate troops did not come from the slave-owning class, retaining slavery was also not their primary cause. As in all wars, many soldiers disavowed any motives of patriotism or political views and argued that they fought for their comrades. This makes perfect sense, especially during the Civil War, because many units were from specific locales and were made up of men who had known each other for years or were related to each other. Both Northern and Southern soldiers, however, more often expressed a sometimes vague acknowledgement that allegiance to country or state—patriotism—justified their sacrifices.
In sum, then, the "last full devotion" at Gettysburg is a devotion to a country or, perhaps more accurate, an idea of what a country should be. Each side had a different view of what constitutes a "country," but each side thought that country was worth fighting for.
If you are referring to Abraham Lincoln's words in The Gettysburg Address, it's important to remember why he gave the speech to understand the words "they gave the last full measure of devotion."
The purpose of Lincoln's brief but memorable speech was two-fold: to dedicate a cemetery for Union soldiers killed in the battles of the Civil War, but also to remind the country that the work of reunifying the United States was the ultimate goal. In Lincoln's mind, the Union soldiers who gave their lives ("the last full measure of devotion") were trying to restore what the founding fathers had created with the American Revolution: a united country of states, a democratic republic that replaced British colonies.
It is impossible to know what was in the minds of all Civil War soldiers, but at least nominally, by choosing a side, soldiers were either fighting for the reunification of the country or for the continuation of the secession of the Confederate states.
https://www.historynet.com/gettysburg-address-text
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