Changing sides

I have always wondered why do many of the Lamanite prisoners would choose to join the people of Ammon. It occurred to me tonight that most of the labor soldiers were likely single (unattached), relatively young men. After fighting in the war and finding that it wasn’t as glamorous or easy as they might have expected going in—and especially if they had become discouraged about the odds of winning the war—it makes sense they they might take the chance to settle down into a life away from war among other people of labor heritage. Some who had families back in the Lamanite lands might later have brought their families over to join them in the life they had created. If most of those sisters had established families back in the Lamanite kingdom they might have been less likely to accept a chance to live among the Nephites.