Clara Barton

Clara Barton

Before The Civil War 

Clara Barton was born in 1821 to an abolitionist family. After receiving a formal education she became a school teacher and then eventually a headmaster in Massachusetts. The school board voted to replace Clara with a male headmaster, so she moved to Washington D.C. and began working at the Patent Office.  

During The Civil War 

Clara was working at the Patent Office when the Civil War broke out. A week after the Civil War started, soldiers of the 6th Massachusetts infantry were attacked by Southern sympathizers and the Capitol Building was converted into a makeshift hospital to care for them. 

Clara felt the need to help and gathered supplies and urged the public to donate goods and services. Despite having no medical training, Clara spent her time with the soldiers, nursing them back to health and providing compassion and support. 

Clara left Washington D.C. to offer her help closer to the battles. In 1862, she received permission to take supplies such as bandages and medicine to the Union army and began following the Union army. She brought supplies, assisted the surgeons, made food for the injured, and much more. Her support was greatly appreciated and she was given the title the "Angel of the Battlefield". 

One of the surgeons she worked alongside, Dr. James Dunn, praised Clara stating

“In my feeble estimation, General McClellan, with all his laurels, sinks into insignificance beside the true heroine of the age, the angel of the battlefield.”

Clara Barton. photo by (Charles R. B.), 1860-1870

In April 1863, Clara traveled to Hilton Head, SC, and then to Morris Island where she worked to combat the spreading of disease and continue to care for sick soldiers. After the death of her brother, Clara returned to the North.

Here President Abraham Lincoln appointed her as General Correspondent for the Friends of Paroled Prisoners. Her job was to find missing soldiers by locating them among prison rolls, parole rolls, or casualty lists and inform their families of their fate. This was an enormous task, and to get help in completing it, Clara established the Bureau of Records of Missing Men of the Armies of the United States. Clara presented her final report to Congress in 1869, after identifying over 22,000 missing soldiers. 

After The Civil War 

In 1869, Clara traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, and learned about the International Red Cross. Returning to America, Clara established the American Red Cross and served as the organization's first president until 1904. 

Clara died in 1912 after a lifetime of servitude and left a legacy that is still honored today.