Clarissa Harlowe Barton
December 25, 1821, in Oxford, Massachusetts-April 12, 1912 in Maryland.
Brielyn Howard
Clarissa Harlowe Barton, or Clara, is one of the most honored women in American history. She began teaching at a time when most teachers were men, and she was among one of the first women to gain employment in the federal government. Barton risked her life to bring supplies and support to soldiers in the field during the Civil War, and in 1881 at age 60, she founded the American Red Cross and led the foundation for the next 23 years. Her understanding of the needs of people in distress and the ways in which she could provide help to them guided her throughout her entire life. By the force of her personal example, she opened paths to the new field of volunteer service. Her intense devotion to serving others resulted in enough achievements that would be encredible for even a man to acheave at this time.
Barton was working as a recording clerk in the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C. when the first units of federal troops poured into the city in 1861. The Civil war had just begun. The troops were newly recruited, and the residents in the capital were alarmed and confused. Barton perceived an immediate need in all this chaos for providing personal assistance to the men in uniform, many of whom were already wounded. Many hungry, and some without bedding or any clothing except what they were sent to war in, she started taking supplies to the young men of the Sixth Massachusetts Infantry who had been attacked in Baltimore, Maryland, by southern sympathizers and were temporarily housed in the unfinished Capitol building. Barton quickly discovered that many were “her boys,” as she described it; she had grown up with some of them and some she had even taught in her time teaching. Besides collecting supplies, like most woman, Barton offered personal support to the men in hopes of keeping their spirits up. She read to them, wrote letters for them, listened to their personal problems, and prayed with them. But she knew that where she was needed most was not behind the lines in Washington but on the battlefields where suffering was greatest.
Barton forced leaders in the government and the army to be given passes to bring her voluntary services and medical supplies to the scenes of battle and field hospitals, but Barton was never satisfied with remaining with medical units at the end of the station. Many times she ordered the drivers of her supply wagons to follow newarby attacks and traveled all night, pulling ahead of military medical units. While battle raged on, she and her other coworkers worked throughout the night to bring relief and hope to the field. She nursed, comforted, and cooked for the wounded soldiers. In the middle of battle, she wrote, “I always tried . . . to succor the wounded until medical aid and supplies could come up—I could run the risk; it made no difference to anyone if I were shot or taken prisoner.”
The interest Clara showed in the soldiers gave her a plethra of information about the men and the regiments to which they belonged. Toward the end of the Civil war, she found herself writing to many families who worried for their sons who had been reported missing. Again, she recognized a pressing need to do something practical to address the matter. In the month before his assassination, President Abraham Lincoln wrote, “To the Friends of Missing Persons: Miss Clara Barton has kindly offered to search for the missing prisoners of war. Please address her . . . giving her the name, regiment, and company of any missing prisoner.” Clara founded the Office of Correspondence with friends of the Missing Men of the United States Army and operated it out of her rooms back in Washington for four years following the war. Barton received and answered to over 63,000 letters and identified over 22,000 missing men. Years later, the foundation she created, Red Cross established a tracing service, still one of the organization’s most valued activities today. Inspired by a recent visit in Europe, Barton corresponded with Red Cross officials in Switzerland after her return Washington. She was recognized for her her leadership abilities for including this country in the global Red Cross network and for influencing the United States government to sign the Geneva Treaty. Armed with a letter from the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Barton took her appeal to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877, but he looked on the treaty as a possible “entangling alliance” and rejected it. His successor, President James Garfield, was supportive and seemed ready to sign it when he was assassinated. Finally, Garfield’s successor, Chester Arthur, signed the treaty in 1882 and a few days later the Senate ratified it. The Red Cross has remained a reliefe from disaster and the largest aid for our military since its esistance thanks to Barton. They would help with supplies, wounded soldiers in battle, natural disasters and many more personal matters. The Red Cross Is still an extreamly relivant and vital aspect to our health community today.
Barton helped raise the U.S. flag over the Andersonville grounds at their dedication in 1865, she wrote, “I ought to be satisfied. I believe I am.” Coming events were to show, however, that she would never be satisfied except by responding again and again to the call of human need.
Barton was working as a recording clerk in the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C. when the first units of federal troops poured into the city in 1861. The Civil war had just begun. The troops were newly recruited, and the residents in the capital were alarmed and confused. Barton perceived an immediate need in all this chaos for providing personal assistance to the men in uniform, many of whom were already wounded. Many hungry, and some without bedding or any clothing except what they were sent to war in, she started taking supplies to the young men of the Sixth Massachusetts Infantry who had been attacked in Baltimore, Maryland, by southern sympathizers and were temporarily housed in the unfinished Capitol building. Barton quickly discovered that many were “her boys,” as she described it; she had grown up with some of them and some she had even taught in her time teaching. Besides collecting supplies, like most woman, Barton offered personal support to the men in hopes of keeping their spirits up. She read to them, wrote letters for them, listened to their personal problems, and prayed with them. But she knew that where she was needed most was not behind the lines in Washington but on the battlefields where suffering was greatest.
Barton forced leaders in the government and the army to be given passes to bring her voluntary services and medical supplies to the scenes of battle and field hospitals, but Barton was never satisfied with remaining with medical units at the end of the station. Many times she ordered the drivers of her supply wagons to follow newarby attacks and traveled all night, pulling ahead of military medical units. While battle raged on, she and her other coworkers worked throughout the night to bring relief and hope to the field. She nursed, comforted, and cooked for the wounded soldiers. In the middle of battle, she wrote, “I always tried . . . to succor the wounded until medical aid and supplies could come up—I could run the risk; it made no difference to anyone if I were shot or taken prisoner.”
The interest Clara showed in the soldiers gave her a plethra of information about the men and the regiments to which they belonged. Toward the end of the Civil war, she found herself writing to many families who worried for their sons who had been reported missing. Again, she recognized a pressing need to do something practical to address the matter. In the month before his assassination, President Abraham Lincoln wrote, “To the Friends of Missing Persons: Miss Clara Barton has kindly offered to search for the missing prisoners of war. Please address her . . . giving her the name, regiment, and company of any missing prisoner.” Clara founded the Office of Correspondence with friends of the Missing Men of the United States Army and operated it out of her rooms back in Washington for four years following the war. Barton received and answered to over 63,000 letters and identified over 22,000 missing men. Years later, the foundation she created, Red Cross established a tracing service, still one of the organization’s most valued activities today. Inspired by a recent visit in Europe, Barton corresponded with Red Cross officials in Switzerland after her return Washington. She was recognized for her her leadership abilities for including this country in the global Red Cross network and for influencing the United States government to sign the Geneva Treaty. Armed with a letter from the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Barton took her appeal to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877, but he looked on the treaty as a possible “entangling alliance” and rejected it. His successor, President James Garfield, was supportive and seemed ready to sign it when he was assassinated. Finally, Garfield’s successor, Chester Arthur, signed the treaty in 1882 and a few days later the Senate ratified it. The Red Cross has remained a reliefe from disaster and the largest aid for our military since its esistance thanks to Barton. They would help with supplies, wounded soldiers in battle, natural disasters and many more personal matters. The Red Cross Is still an extreamly relivant and vital aspect to our health community today.
Barton helped raise the U.S. flag over the Andersonville grounds at their dedication in 1865, she wrote, “I ought to be satisfied. I believe I am.” Coming events were to show, however, that she would never be satisfied except by responding again and again to the call of human need.
Works Cited
- "Clara Barton Biography." Bio. Bio, 2014. Web. 1 May. 2014.
- “Clara Barton, Angel of the Battlefield.” National Women's History Museum. National Park Service, 7 December 2001. Web. 1 May. 2014.
- "Clara Barton: Relief Organizer/Humanitarian." Civil War Trust. Civil War Trust, 4 April. 2013. Web. 1 May. 2014.