"Are you discounting the deaths of 340,000 Union sons who would never return home to enjoy their intact farms and railroads?"

Not in the least, Jim; That is expressly why I did not include in my response to Frank the numbers lost on either side - the losses on both sides were horrendous but, by themselves do nothing to shed light on the answer to Frank's observation about northern posters being, largely, non-complaining.

Further, in my last response to Mike (the "shed a tear" response), I thought I had expressed my willingness to honor the remnants of the Union Army - in my mind, not so much as Yanks, but as survivors of a huge shared conflagration that brought out the best and the worst on both sides.

In my response, I was trying to compare northern post-War realities with Southern post-War realities that were both comparable and starkly different in an attempt to address Frank's very perceptive observation about northerners on your board.

Does that clarify my response for you, Jim?