History Associates and Civil War Trust Announce the Release of Fredericksburg Battlefield App Tour for iPhone

    ROCKVILLE, MD, May 06, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- A new iPhone app is now available that guides visitors through the Civil War Battlefield of Fredericksburg, Virginia. History Associates Incorporated, the leading historical research firm in the United States, collaborated with the Civil War Trust to develop the GPS-enabled application, which provides maps, insight, and historical details about the fighting that took place on December 13, 1862.

"These apps bring historical research to life," said Halley Fehner, lead historian on the project from History Associates. "It is extremely compelling to be able to stand at a spot on a battlefield and hear what a soldier wrote about his experience at that location." History Associates worked closely with the Civil War Trust to develop the content story, draft the text, and search for supporting imagery. The firm consulted an array of primary sources to create the narrative, drawing from personal accounts of soldiers on both sides of the battle, as well as writings from townspeople living in Fredericksburg in 1862.

The app uses "virtual signs" to tell the story of specific events and also includes points of interest, video and audio clips, orders of battle, fun facts and quizzes, historical photos, battle maps, and treasure hunts. "Our goal with these 'Battle Apps' is to encourage visitors to engage with history in a new way," said Garry Adelman, director of history and education at the Civil War Trust. "With this app, you can visit the battlefield with a wealth of information at your fingertips."

The GPS-location function allows visitors to trace their position on the battlefield, but the app can also serve as a virtual tour for users not on-site. The app contains four sub-tours of the battlefield--two take place in the National Park Service's Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military History Park, while another covers the fighting on the Slaughter Pen Farm, a 208-acre section of the battlefield owned by the Civil War Trust. The fourth sub-tour guides visitors to battle action that took place in downtown Fredericksburg.

The Virginia series of Battle Apps is being underwritten by a grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), which seeks to encourage tourism to the Old Dominion during the Civil War sesquicentennial commemoration. Similar tours for Bull Run/Manassas, Malvern Hill and Chancellorsville will debut later this year.

A news conference to unveil the new Fredericksburg Battle App was held in the Mary Washington Room of the Courtyard Fredericksburg Historic District Hotel in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Wednesday, May 4, 2011. Joining the Civil War Trust and History Associates at the news conference was Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean T. Connaughton and Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Bill Howell. The product was demonstrated at the event.

The Fredericksburg Battle App follows closely on the heels of the Gettysburg Battlefield App, released in early November. Currently, Battle Apps are available only on Apple's iPhone platform, but with future releases the Trust is planning to expand onto other GPS-enabled smartphones. For more information, please visit www.civilwar.org/battleapps.

About the Civil War Trust
With 55,000 members, the Civil War Trust is the largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization in the United States. Its goals are to preserve our nation's endangered Civil War sites and to promote appreciation of these hallowed grounds through education and heritage tourism. The Trust's website is located at www.civilwar.org, the home of the Civil War sesquicentennial.

About History Associates
For thirty years the historians and archivists at History Associates have demonstrated that history is valuable in the market as well as the marketplace of ideas. They provide professional historical research, histories, exhibit content, interpretive planning, archives, and records management to clients throughout the United States and around the world. History Associates strives to be The Best Company in History , serving corporate, government, legal, and nonprofit clients from its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, with an office in Brea, California. For more information, call (301) 279-9697 or visit www.historyassociates.com.

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