Can Anyone Add a New Thread to the Biography Forum?
Where can I find the Official Biography Forum New Thread Layout / Format?
Why do some threads in this forum start with this symbol "Ω"? What is that symbol?
Why do some threads have a Dash " - " before the Thread Title?
Male Affiliated with the United States
Male Afilliated with the Confederate States
Female Affiliated with the United States
Female Affiliated with the Confederate States
U.S. Army Colonel
U.S. Army Brevet Brigidier General
U.S. Army Major Brigadier General
U.S. Army Brigadier General
U.S. Army Major General
U.S. Army Lieutenant General
Medal of Honor Recipient (Army/Navy/Civilians)
Confederate Army Colonel
Confederate Brigadier General
Confederate Major General
Confederate Lieutenant General
Confederate General
President of the United States
President of the Confederate States
Non-Affiliated Male
Non-Affiliated Female
Medical Staff & Nurses
United States Navy
Confederate States Navy
Ordnance & Artillery
How is Military Rank determined for each Profile?
Who creates the profiles, and where do they come from?
Some of our profiles include Biographies from the following books:
Yes & No. Adding a new Thread to the Biography Forum isn't a casual thing, it takes a lot of preparation, research, and there is a layout that we require all New Threads follow. Any person who is willing to create a Profile / Biography, and submit it to the forum in the proper format, assuming that it contains good factual information that is accurate, can do so.
We have had several attempts at making submissions, but few are willing to follow our strict guidelines. We usually move failed attempts to a different appropriate forum.
Off topic posts are moved immediately. Although discussions are frequently made in the replies after the initial Biography thread is created, General Discussion Threads do NOT belong in the Biography forum.
Where can I find the Official Biography Forum New Thread Layout / Format?
It can be found in the second post in this thread.
Why do some threads in this forum start with this symbol "Ω"? What is that symbol?
That is the "omega" symbol. As in Alpha and Omega, or First and Last.... and that may give you a clue to why we use it! When we list our entries in this forum in alphabetical order, we don't want to mix in our administrative threads. So, we need some kind of tag at the beginning of the post to sort our threads either to the beginning, or the end of the thread list, to keep things looking neat and orderly!
Omega, a symbol used to represent the "end" actually sorts after the letter Z in alphabetical order! So if we insert it at the beginning of a thread title, it sorts it at the end!
Why do some threads have a Dash " - " before the Thread Title?
This is actually for a simiar reason that we use the Omega symbol, this is for threads we want posted at the top of our thread list, before the letter A. We do this either because the threads are new and need sorting, or they are to be featured for a special event. We find this character less distracting than other choices, so it's our preferred "pre-sorting character".
What are the meanings of the "Prefixes" in the Biography Forum?The prefixes help us to sort the threads by different classifications, including gender, rank, occupation, and wartime affiliation.
Here is a LEGEND:
What do the Symbols in the Prefixes Mean?In many cases, we've attempted, where we can, to replicate they insignia or symbology of the Rank or Occupation that's being Represented, most notably the Union Colonel with the Eagle, and the Union Generals with 1, 2, and 3 stars each, just as their shoulder insignia would have. In other cases, symbology, like the green "H" on a square yellow field is reminicient of a field hospital flag, this representing a place where you might find Doctors, Nurses, and other Medical Staff and Volunteers hard at work...
The most modern symbology is probably the Medal of Honor prefix, this light blue field with five stars comes directly from the current military medal ribbon worn by recipients of the current Medal of Honor, the design is derived from the current blue neck ribbon of the Medal.
How is Military Rank determined for each Profile?
Typically, the plan is to give each profile one rank, and if needed, one additional prefix. The rank will be determined either by the current rank at the end of the Civil War, roughly May of 1865, or the highest rank attained officially before the end of the war. We haven't set a hard date on that yet.
Contrary to this system, presidents are always marked as such, regardless of elected time period.
Who creates the profiles, and where do they come from?
Each biography profile is carefully composed members of CivilWarTalk.com.
The information in each biography is carefully curated from a large variety of sources, many come from text books, some from the internet. Many times old newspaper clippings, including obituaries can be helpful, as well as some genealogical, and other biographical references. We sometimes need to resort to checking FindAGrave or Wikipedia to find some fact and figures, or just doing Google Searches....
Other Helpful Links:Some of our profiles include Biographies from the following books:
Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske, 1888.
The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, J. T. White, 1902
The National Cyclopedia of American Biography
books.google.com
Last edited: