The Source
Fold3 ‘Civil War Stories: Enhancements’
By Michael K. Shaffer · Originally published December 2023 · p. 16
Fold3 ‘Civil War Stories: Enhancements’ In a previous installment of this column, readers learned of a new feature of Fold3: unveiling a unique research collection entitled ‘Civil War Stories.’ (See June 2020 edition of CWN.) While the Fold3 service requires a subscription ($79.95 annually or $7.95 monthly) to access the rich features of this site, serious researchers will consider this a bargain! Recently, Fold3 announced aggressive updates to ‘Civil War Stories.’ According to Fold3 staff, this project will receive the following enhancements. “Over the next several days, we will relaunch Civil War Stories with new, updated, and refined data. Updated soldier Memorials.
We have generated six million NEW and UPDATED Fold3 Memorials for Civil War soldiers. (If you have tagged, bookmarked, or generated a link to a beta Memorial, you will be directed to find the new and improved Memorial). Tripled the number of source records to create soldier Memorials. This means more detailed information than ever! Add records, photos, and stories to soldier Memorials (previously, individual contributions were not allowed). Updated battle pages. In addition to 400 Civil War battle pages, we’ve added more than 1,000 smaller engagements classified as skirmishes. The distinction between companies and batteries. Previously, all units were identified as companies. With this update, we’ve created the ability to distinguish between companies and batteries.” The homepage for ‘Civil War Stories,’ found at h t t p s : / / w w w. f o l d 3 . c o m / publication/1087/civil-warstories?xid=7071&utm_ source=Internal&utm_ medium=Email&utm_ campaign=CWSUpdate_ September-2023 offers users the ability to select People,’ Records,’ Places,’ ‘Dates,’ or other criteria. For this exercise, this writer entered ‘Stones River.’ See the image (Stones River) for the resulting search page. In addition to the battle summary, note the various categories available for exploration at the top of the page. Select ‘Regiments’ to see an alphabetized listing of the 309 participating regiments from this battle in December 1862 – January 1863. As of this writing, only two companies populate the Stones River set: Both Confederate: the 4th Florida Infantry and the Tennessee 24th Battalion Sharpshooters. Select the 24th to see the following details on this unit. Please note the disclaimer at the top of each search result page: “This page is currently in BETA. We would love your feedback about your experience.” So, bookmark the site, check back often, and track the progress as Fold3 continues the enhancements to this helpful research tool! Good luck with your research on the American Civil War!
Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, instructor, and member of the Society of Civil War Historians, the Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, and the Georgia Association of Historians. Readers may contact him at [email protected] or to request speaking engagements via his website, www. civilwarhistorian.net. Follow Michael on Facebook at www. facebook.com/michael.k.shaffer and Twitter @michaelkshaffer.
Civil War Stories home page.
Stones River.