Talk:American Civil War

Proposed pagequote

We now have a quote at the top of many a page I'd suggest the following : "war is hell - William Tecumseh Sherman, high ranking Union (North) general". I would implement it myself, but I don't know how and want to avoid any type of controversy, seeing as the prior quote was removed... Hobbitschuster (talk) 21:28, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

That's a good one, and I think it will be uncontroversial. Ikan Kekek (talk) 03:10, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

I'll add that I misread the attribution for the quote I reverted - it was by someone from the Rebel side, not the Union side. I apologize to User:Yvwv for reverting it, and giving an inapplicable reason for so doing. Nevertheless, I think "War is hell" is a better quote. Ikan Kekek (talk) 03:12, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

No offense taken; any quote would do. /Yvwv (talk) 10:40, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

So could somebody who knows how to do that please insert said quote? Hobbitschuster (talk) 13:54, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

The most destructive single conflict on the Western Hemisphere?

If we take the common definition of "Western Hemisphere" (i.e. everything between Tierra del Fuego and Alaska), I have a problem with the statement made in this edit as the War of the triple alliance arguably had a similar death toll and much more destructive effect on the losing side. And this also ignores the wars before the 19th century that while mere skirmishes by themselves were a contributing factor in the death of millions of Native Americans (the actual numbers and causes of which are very much open to debate and outside the scope of a travel guide). The Civil War has a particular place in US history even today and it is notable for its particular nastiness, but it is not as singular as this wording might make it sound. Even in American history that has rarely seen large scale war in the last two hundred years - even though some countries were torn apart by civil strive of some sort... Hobbitschuster (talk) 15:20, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

The easy solution is to use the phrasing "one of the most destructive" or "has been described as the most destructive." What do you think about those phrasings, Hobbitschuster? Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:40, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

I guess I can reckon his point: this was a "white versus white" conflict, therefore more studied and remembered than other "white versus native" conflicts which, per w:Manifest Destiny, were regarded and entered into official historiography as more "trivial" and less "destructive". However much I would like to elaborate and digress about this subject, this is a travel guide, and WV:Tone always applies. I made the proper edits, and must mention that I miss Hobbitschuster's presence in the community, he's a valuable partner when it comes to historical articles. Ibaman (talk) 21:20, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

I agree that he's a valuable editor, and he's edited as recently as July 6, so there's reason to hope we'll hear from him again in this thread. I don't think elaboration is needed, but "has been described as the most destructive" or "was one of the most destructive" could work. Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:33, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

Which I see you did, and I thank you. Ikan Kekek (talk) 22:37, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

Your solution works, Ikan. Plus, "Western Hemisphere" refers to everything west of Greenwich, so it should be replaced with "the Americas", were it to stay. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 03:04, 2 September 2023 (UTC)

Maps

• For reference use only - For you Civil War enthusiasts! I have created maps and listings for 90%+ of the American Civil War Battles, Indian War Battles during that period, Naval engagements as well as Parks (memorials). These were created from Wikipedia Civil War tables, Wikidata and Wikivoyage sources. In some cases I used an experimental Module to create them (but code can be changed to markers or listings). These are experimental pages and may be removed at a later date. They may be of some use in finding interesting locations for various articles in Wikivoyage. -- Pages are to be found under User:Matroc/CW???? they cover 1861-1862,1863,1864,1865 and Parks. CW1865 includes Indian Battles in West, Naval Engagements and Prisoner of War Camp locations.

American Civil War Battles

Swept in from the pub

• The following pages are available for reference should anyone be interested in the American Civil War. These pages were created (using a different set of experimental templates and Modules) as reference material only should you wish to look at them. The information was garnered from Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikivoyage as sources. There may be sites/locations that you might want to investigate/select for any individual US state articles or just to puruse to see the enormity of that period in American History. You may have to convert these into some standard format should you wish to use any of these references; the information is there and should be easy enough to do. All of these are links and appear on dynamic maps in each section. Wikipedia links are also provided... About 98% have Wikidata ID's used to garner lat/long information. These Wikidata IDs were collected by another mini Module to search to see if a Wikipedia article existed by name in order to obtain the Wikidata ID. The remainder were researched and had lat/long information added manually. Text for each listing was basically found in tables/articles on Wikipedia and should be revamped/modified somewhat. Again, the sources are from Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikivoyage.
  • Civil War 1861-62 — CW Battles 1861 (40+) - CW Battles 1862 (90+)
  • Civil War 1863 — CW Battles 1863 (110+)
  • Civil War 1864 — CW Battles 1864 (120+)
  • Civil War 1865 — CW Battles - 1865 (36+), CW Indian War Battles (11), CW Naval Encounters (50) and Civil War POW Camps (26).
  • Civil War Parks and Memorials — CW Parks/Memorials - 42 listed
• Enjoy -- Matroc (talk) 06:47, 5 October 2018 (UTC)

Destinations

I think this article could be improved by including a wider variety of places in the "Destinations" section. Looks like only battlefields are there, though there are significant sites that weren't battlefields (like Appomattox Court House) and there are Civil War museums that are fascinating places to experience the history of the era (like Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond). What do y'all think? Any reason why only battlefields are listed in this article? Mrkstvns (talk) 18:45, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

Sure, I agree. Please feel free to add any additional relevant destinations! Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:37, 1 September 2023 (UTC)

Taiping?

Should the Taiping Rebellion, an even bloodier civil war fought at about the same time, have a link from this article? I'm inclined to think not since it is only tangentially related, but am not certain. Pashley (talk) 16:48, 30 August 2024 (UTC)

There have been lots of civil wars and revolutions and rebellions around the world. We don't have links to any of them in this article. Ground Zero (talk) 17:09, 30 August 2024 (UTC)

the first Crimean War, with the siege of Sevastopol, is contemporaneous here as well. But I can't see any ttcf angle for us to elaborate on. Ibaman (talk) 09:07, 31 August 2024 (UTC)

As long as the Taiping Rebellion is just a link to a brief paragraph of the Imperial China article,such a link is not so meaningful. The rebellion had some impact on the United States through Chinese immigration; not much on the Civil War, however. /Yvwv (talk) 12:23, 31 August 2024 (UTC)

If there aren't any other connections between the conflicts other than they happened to take place during the same time, then I don't think a link is useful. --Ypsilon (talk) 14:51, 31 August 2024 (UTC)

I don't think links to civil wars in other countries are at all useful to a traveller. Mrkstvns (talk) 17:36, 31 August 2024 (UTC)