US Civil War Project's January 2024 Newsletter

Question

I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and the coming year will be filled with all the "Wikitree" time you desire .

The US Civil War: War Between the States Project  had a very productive 2023:  Please welcome Norman Jones as our newest Project Coordinator.  Andrew Simpier has completed the space pages for the 106th Regiment, New York Infantry, his created 1,400 profiles, plus his G2G posts have allowed us the chance to see how life was during that time period. Cathryn Hondros has done an incredible job with her 105th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, creating 832 profiles.  Randal Livingston has created and updated space pages for the "Order of Battle", for Major Battles, such as Gettysburg.  Harry Ide has given us a space page concerning "The Laws Related to the US Civil War."  These are just a few of the 2023 accomplishments.  Please add comments or answers about what you were involved in during 2023 and what you hope to accomplish in 2024 for the US Civil War Project!!!

The Challenges for 2023 went really well.  We completed the Shiloh National Cemetery by adding 1,807 profiles.  The Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery was completed by adding 2,240 Soldier Profile.  3,192 Soldiers have been added to the Andersonville National Cemetery.  Our members also increased the CC7 numbers of 69 notable Generals.  On top of all those accomplishments, we've also connected "hundreds" of soldiers to their families. I especially enjoy being able to use the Challenge Tracker. Here is the link to the US Civil War: War Between the States -- Project Newsletter Archives  if you'd like to review the Challenges and Newsletters for 2023.

2024 January Challenge: Each year I challenge members who sign up for the January Connect-a-Thon to focus on connecting Civil War Soldiers to their families, this year I'm asking the same thing, but with a bit of a twist.  Instead of you choosing a "Surname Letter", you will be choosing from a block of soldiers whom I've already screened that show they have family to connect. Each soldier has a connection to one or more of his immediate family--parents, siblings, spouses, children, on their profile. Whether you work on one soldier or your whole block of soldiers, it's one step closer in our goal to connect each of our US Civil War Soldiers. The goal is to make sure all these soldiers are connected at least by one or two degrees.  If your interested in accepting this challenge, click this link for the sign-up chart: US Civil War Project Monthly Challenges Page 

Thank you to all our US Civil War Members for all the contributions you've made to the Project.  

Comments

I am participating in the Civil War Connect-a-thon.  Does it count as a connection if once you have connected the patron to a spouse if you continue to connect him to his parents and children.  Does each and every connection count?

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The answer is yes, all new profiles are counted

Answer 1

Hi Pam,

Thank you for the update for the Wikitree U.S. Civil War Project. The collaboration has been excellent with so many contributing. The 106th Regiment, New York Infantry, United States Civil War is still my focus in 2024 as we continue to slowly connect all 1400 veterans of the regiment! Progress is being made at a steady pace 

The free space pages for the 106th NYV are updated as we get the connections made daily. The “St. Lawrence County Regiment” is a work in progress 

Thank you for all the collaboration as we enter into the New Year. 

I look forward to the U.S. Civil War Projects challenges in the coming year!

Edit: I should mention also that I’ve been working on adding all the Union Civil War Generals to Wikitree and updating those already created with the Category: Union Army Generals, United States Civil War. There are currently 422 Generals in this category.

Comments

Thank you Andrew for all you do for the Project.  I especially enjoy all the G2G stories you share.  

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Andrew,

I also enjoy the numerous Civil War stories you share on G2G. I look forward to reading more in the upcoming year.

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Thank you Norman 

Answer 2

I enjoy this project! Thank you for leading it, Pam; and thank you to everyone who improved the profiles of our CW veterans.

I spend more time on Civil War veterans than even my own family (CC7). I work to improve the Civil War information on existing profiles and create new profiles. During the upcoming Connect-a-thon, I will gladly focus on Civil War veterans and their families.

I have six direct ancestors who served (all Confederate) and many more uncles and cousins. So this is a passion of mine.

What I do when not improving profiles is a bit out of the box. I have created illustrations of  32 regimental Civil War flags for Alabama, have started working on South Carolina, and have nine of these completed. These illustrations are drawn by me in Adobe Illustrator and are not copyrighted, so anyone may use them on profiles and stickers. If I live long enough, I'll draw every known Civil War flag.

Civil War Flags

I have also created many Civil War soldier illustrations for use on profiles, with the help of AI. This coming year I plan to work on more 'action' type illustrations. Obviously, at the time of the war, photography wasn't common. While there are quite a few soldier portraits available, hardly any action photos, due to the limitations of photography at the time. 

I enjoy being able to add some visual interest to a CW veteran's profile with either an illustration of the flag they rallied around or illustrations of soldiers.

Civil War Soldier Illustrations

Using Fold3, I gather every fact I can find and write them up in the biographies.

Here's to much more progress in 2024!

Comments

Thank you Laura for all your work in the U.S. Civil War Project every piece everyone contributes is so helpful and valuable  

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Hi Laura,

I noticed the sticker for Connecticut in the Civil War Project is deleted and hasn’t been replaced or updated see https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Civil_War_Flags

Maybe it can be added? 

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Yes, animated flags sometimes are deleted. I'll work on a flag or two for Connecticut.

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I uploaded that Connecticut flag, Andrew.

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Thank you 

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Thank you Laura for the work your doing on the flags and the Soldier's profiles you've been working on.  All the updates make the project that much better. 

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Here is a 1st Tennessee (Carter's) Cavalry flag one of my cousins recently sent me. 

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Margaret,

I drew the flag for 1st Tenn Cav, it's located here (directly) Civil War Flags of Tennessee 

It is also linked from the main page titled Civil War: War Between the States Flags

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Laura,

You did beautiful work to create the flag! Thanks for drawing the flag!

Answer 3

I've developed a strong passion for delving into the lives of Civil War soldiers, especially those from Arkansas. My primary focus is categorizing and annotating details about these soldiers as I create profiles, expanding my scope to include soldiers from various other states.

One of my key projects involves identifying where military units were recruited within Arkansas, aiming to create a valuable resource for future genealogists. I've been diligently updating the Arkansas space pages for each county with this information, although I'm not yet finished with all counties.

Additionally, my research has led me to discover notable veterans of the Civil War, and I've taken the initiative to create categories for these individuals.

Considering the multitude of units and states involved, I'm keen to obtain an overview of the total soldiers from each state. This data would not only help us gauge our current progress but also serve as a benchmark for measuring future advancements in our research.

Comments

Jimmy,

As a fellow Arkansawyer (not Arkansan LOL), I enjoy and appreciate your work! Keep up the efforts and let me know if I can ever be of assistance.

Thx,

Ron Floyd

Floyd-1923

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Jimmy, thank you for all the updates your doing on the Arkansas Space Pages.  Each update improves the project.

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I don't recall if any of the soldiers were from Arkansas. But thank you Jimmy for all the assistance you have given me this past year.

If there is anything I or the group can do to assist you with the project, please let me know.

Answer 4

With a little gentle prodding from Norman, I'm going to dive into Camp Lawton, Millen, GA. Would someone please tell me where instructions are for designing a free space page?

Comments

Hi Victoria, you might want to look over the space pages on the Project page, you can get an idea what kind of style you want to use. US Civil War: War Between the States Project (wikitree.com)  

On the Drop-down menus at the top right-hand side of your profile you'll see Add, click that and you will see "New Free Space" that's where to begin.

Here is another link that could be of use to you: Help:Free-Space Projects (wikitree.com)  although I haven't made any of the space pages I've constructed into Project pages.

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Yes. I coax others into doing what I cannot. Ha.  I am so glad you are working on Millen. Let me know if you need any assistance or if the group can aid you iin any manner. It will be nice to have Camp Lawton page  up and running. I am looking forward to it.

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I've got a spreadsheet in the works.

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Glad to hear it.I look forward to seeing it.

Answer 5

I want to thank all the members of the Civil War Project. I have worked with so many of you this past year. It has been a blast and I look forward to working with more of you in the coming year. And a special thank you to Pam. She does so much for our group. Much of it goes unnoticed or at least not mentioned. So for all you do for our group, thank you.

Answer 6

My goal for 2024:  In my spare time when I am not working on the challenges, assisting others with projects, or working on POWs Who Died at Andersonville, I intend to create profiles for all the Civil War Generals, Colonels and Medal of Honor recipients from Indiana and Illinois. (create profiles for those not already on WikiTree).

I am finding that most Colonels who remained in Service till the end of the War, were brevetted Brigadier General. Many of those Brevet Brig. Generals and most of the Colonels do not have Wikipedia pages. It appears most folks create profiles for those listed on Wikipedia and ignore all the rest. I am creating profiles for all Generals and Colonels, whether or not they have a Wikipedia page.

In the process of creating these profiles, I am stockpiling a bunch of Generals, Colonels and Medal of Honor recipients that we may use to connect as part of a challenge sometime down the road.

Also, as you may have guessed I have a special interest in Andersonville. I have heard the family stories since I was a small boy. I started reading about Andersonville when I was in college (many years ago Ha,) In more recent years, I have become very interested in the Andersonville Raiders and Regulators. When I read that the Regulators have a core of soldiers from Illinois, my interest was piqued. I have a relative who served in an Illinois regiment that was a POW at Andersonville. Did he know the Regulators? Was he perhaps part of the Regulators?  Since he never came home, those are questions that will never be answered. Which leads me to one project I am considering. One other Civil War project I may tackle, but not on WikiTree is the Wikipedia page for the Andersonville Raiders. It is terrible. So much incorrect information. Ever since I first read it, I have toyed with the notion of rewriting that page. (Well, actually, I toyed with the notion of talking someone else into rewriting that page. Having failed so far to get anyone else to do it, I may have to.)  

I should note that our Civil War Project Space Page on the Raiders is far more accurate than the current page at Wikipedia. Whoever wrote the current version there appears to have relied exclusively on Ransom's book. His is the least reliable of the many books by former POWs. Also, in recent years a couple of folks who have studied, written about and spoke at Andersonville have been kind enough to share some of their vast knowledge with me. I should put to use what all I have learned from them and rewrite the Andersonville Raiders Wikipedia page.