Crime & Safety

A Handful of History

Battle App mashes 19th century conflict with 21st century tech.

Standing on the corner of Sophia and Hawke streets, a small gaggle of men and women in professional attire squinted past the glare into the screen of an iphone held by Doug Ullman, web production specialist for the Civil War Trust. In his hand is the culmination of nearly a year and a half of his work curating information about the battle of Fredericksburg for an

With the flick of a finger, Ullman pulls information from the air about the nearby landing spot used by Union forces crossing the Rappahannock River during the early stages of the battle of Fredericksburg. Walking a little further up Hawke street, and the iPhone application, app for short, brings up information on the bloody Union advance toward Caroline Street. 

Available for download from the Apple iTunes App Store for the cost of $2.99, developers are hailing the application as a revolutionary way to delve into Fredericksburg's past. 

Find out what's happening in Fredericksburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Though the application had already been available for download, it was formally unveiled at a press conference at the Courtyard Marriott on Caroline Street yesterday morning. The conference saw Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton and Speaker William Howell, R-Fredericksburg, join Civil War Trust President James Lightizer and Karen Hedelt, director of Fredericksburg's Tourism and Economic Development Authority to show off the application's features. 

"We have a hard time explaining to people that they are standing in the midst of a battle right here in downtown Fredericksburg," said Hedelt during the press conference. "This technology has the capability to intrigue a younger adult who might be encouraged to learn a little bit about that portion of our history."

Find out what's happening in Fredericksburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The application is the second in a series of Civil War themed applications, Battle Apps, released by the Civil War Trust. The program was developed by the software company NeoTreks with funding from the Virginia Department of Transportaion. NeoTreks also developed a similar application for the battle of Gettysburg actions near Little Round Top and Devil's Den. The Fredericksburg application is the first one to encompass the entire blow by blow of a major civil war battle.

The application uses the iPhones built in GPS to pinpoint your location and highlight surrounding historic sites for the user to learn more about. Click on a point of interest, and the application is ready to provide you with videography, comparative period and modern photography, original source materials and explanations of the significance of the surroundings. The GPS feature also interfaces with battle maps so users can know, within a few yards, in whose historic tracks they are standing. The application also features four battlefield tours which take the user through the fight for downtown, the beginning of the union attack, and the actions at Marye's Heights and Prospect Hill. 

"We cover the entire battlefield," said Rob Shenk, director of internet strategy and development for the Civil War Trust. "We're not limited. It's not just sunken road, it's the entire battle, and we think that's interesting."


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