American Civil War Veterans Project

The American Civil War Veterans Project seeks to identify veterans of the American Civil War who have pages on WeRelate. The goal is to place each one in appropriate categories so that researchers can have an easy way of finding all of those who served in a particular unit.

See the American Civil War veterans category

Category Structure

The American Civil War veterans category is under the Veterans category and has the following structure:

• American Civil War veterans
  • state Civil War veterans
    • regiment (Civil War)
      • person page

Categories

The appropriate category should be added for each Civil War regiment in which a veteran served. While category membership can be established using the conventional [Category:category name|sort parm] syntax, a better alternative is available.

Instead, focus on the fact (presumably military) which establishes membership in the category. Add the source establishing the fact in the ordinary way. In the description field for the fact, place text that uses one of several specialized template references (Category, CategorySorted, MedalOfHonorCivilWar). The template reference will establish membership in the category, as well as creating an active link to the category when the fact is displayed.

Medal of Honor Recipients

If the veteran was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his Civil War service, they should be added to the corresponding category. The best way to do this, is to create a military fact, dated to the date of the award. In the description field, place the template {{MedalofHonorCivilWar|LAST, FIRST}}. For example, see Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

Regimental Affiliation

Membership in a particular regiment is generally established by documentation of enlistment. Create a military fact for the date of enlistment, ideally with corresponding source support. In the description field for the fact, use a CategorySorted template The preferred way to indicate membership in a regiment, is to create a military fact associated with the event that establishes such membership.

Categories on the Person page are based on the regiments in which the veteran served. The naming structure is: regiment (Civil War), for example 13th Ohio Infantry (Civil War)

• State numbered regiments use the ordinal, the state fully spelled out, and type of regiment (infantry/cavalry/artillery), capitalized. Do not use "regiment" - e.g., 103rd Ohio Infantry (Civil War)
• For Union units from Confederate states, add (Union) - e.g., 8th Tennessee Cavalry (Union) (Civil War)
• For Confederate units from Union states, add (CSA) - e.g., 3rd Kentucky Infantry (CSA) (Civil War)
• For units that do not have a numbered designation (especially common in Confederate units), consult the Civil War Soldiers System website for the standard name - e.g., Chisum's Regiment, Texas Dismounted Cavalry (Civil War)
• If the numbered unit is something other than a regiment (a battalion, for example), include the word in the category - e.g., 5th Battalion, Virginia Infantry (Civil War)
• If the veteran served in the Union or Confederate Navy, enter the name of the vessel(s) on which he served - e.g. U.S.S. Niagara (Civil War)

Adding a category is simple. When editing a Person page, there is a large text box for "Personal History." In that box, type the following:

• [[Category:regiment|surname, first name]]
  • For example: [[Category:30th Indiana Infantry (Civil War)|Eddy, Abner]]
  • The first part of the link puts the page in the correct category. The pipe symbol | and the text that follows it allows the page to sort correctly within the category.

After you have saved the page, look to see if the category you have added is in red or blue. If it is blue, that means that the category has already been created; there are other pages that are in that category. (Click the link to find other veterans who served in that unit!)

If the category link is red, that category does not yet exist. Please create it. (See next section.)

Notable Veterans

If a person is a notable Civil War figure (notable meaning that his/her contribution to the Civil War is of interest to more than members of the family), he or she should also be part of the American Civil War Figures category.

It would also be common, for notable veterans, to be the subject of a Wikipedia page. Don't miss the opportunity to associate a person with a corresponding wikipedia page (for help, see this page).

Creating a Regimental Category

If the link that was added on a Person page is red, that means the category does not yet exist. Creating it is easy:

• Click the red link. This will take you to a page advising that the category does not yet exist.
• Click "Edit" on the left-hand side of the page.
• In the large text box, enter the appropriate category:
  • state Civil War veterans (if it is a state unit)
  • U.S. Army Civil War veterans (if it is a U.S. Army unit)
  • U.S. Navy Civil War veterans (if it was a U.S. vessel)
  • C.S.A. Navy Civil War veterans (if it was a Confederate vessel)
• Do not capitalize the word "veterans"
• To get the units to sort correctly, include a pipe symbol | and the letter for the type of unit followed by a 0-padded three digit representation of the unit number. For example:
  • [[Category:Ohio Civil War veterans|I002]] (for 2nd Ohio Infantry)
  • [[Category:Illinois Civil War veterans|I073]] (for 73rd Illinois Infantry)
  • [[Category:New York Civil War veterans|I192]] (for 192nd New York Infantry)