Clara Barton's Role In The Civil War

Clara Barton, born Clarissa Harlowe Barton, is one of the most significant figures in US history. Barton is well known for being a female pioneer in the field of teaching, as well as for her work in the US patent office during the Civil war. These feats alone make her a historical figure; however, she is also known for something which far surpasses these accomplishments. Clara Barton is recognized and remembered today for her extraordinary work as a nurse during the American Civil War, and for going on to establish the American Red Cross. (Clara Barton; Clara Barton)

While back in Washington, Barton heard that the Union had suffered a defeat. At daybreak, her and two other women packed supplies on a freight cart and made the journey to the second Battle of Bull Run. They had boxes of bandages, drugs, coffee, brandy, cans of soup, juices and crackers. At nighttime, the three women would move from one man to another, wrapping blankets around them and giving them small amounts of food.

Clara Barton had many different sources of inspiration for her career in nursing. Barton was a person of strong values since her youngest years, and her family had a huge impact on all of her choices and ways of thinking. Evans writes about a serious incident in Barton’s life that occurred when she was 11 years old that nobody knew would have such a huge impact on her career goals. Barton’s brother suffered a major head injury, and through the whole healing process she learned from the doctor and his staff on how to be the best and most appropriate nurse for her brother. The whole two years of her brother’s recovery Barton learned how to most efficiently care for her brother’s sensitivities, which advanced her patience and ability to handle extensive injuries. This event in her life led her to have a strong will to help those in need of medical assistance

She later got caught and was later put into prison in 1864 by confederate troops and taken into prison. Along with Mary Edward walker, Clara Barton, was an Army nurse. Clara was to serve help in curing injured men. She had a bad experience when she went to go cure a man, a bullet that killed the man she was helping was peireced threw her sleeve. She had been assisting him and tried to save him, but it was too late and he had died. Also these women made a legacy in life, Underground Railroad, being the first US army women surgeon, and the foundation of the American Red Cross. Mary Todd Lincoln, who was married to Abraham Lincoln. Although she was a lot different then the other important women in the civil war, she was just as important. She was the wife of the president during the war. Although she did not exactly fight or become a nurse of the war, she still had to take care of her family and all of Abraham’s stressful days. She had to mend to her children’s needs while Abraham was out making sure the troops in the war were in the right standings. When 1865 came around it was a terrible year for her, her family and her heart were crushed. Her loved one was assassinated, and her family and herself had no idea how to handle it. Being that she was the presidents wife, she was still important to make a legacy. Showed that women are strong enough to handle stress, children, and deaths in their family to be strong for

1. In what ways did Clara Barton help during the Civil War? What roles did she play?

Clara Barton was a nurse who found the American Red Cross. She became a nurse in 1821 and during the Civil War, she was an important nurse. Barton didn’t get married because she know that if she did, she would have limited

After the Civil War Clara Barton supported families impacted by the Civil War by establishing the of the Office of Missing Soldiers in Washington, DC. Her office worked dilligently to identify missing and killed soldiers in order to contact the distraught familes. ​

“For my soldiers I will stay. For I am one of them as well and by their side I will remain.” I wonder if Clara Barton spoke to herself in that very same way…Get your eyes ready to take a journey through the life of one of the great women who aided our soldiers; far back before we were born. Clarrisa Harlowe Barton, later known as Clara, was born on Christmas day in 1821. She was the fifth and youngest child of Sarah Stone and Stephen Barton in Oxford, Massachusetts. Her father was well known because of the local Universalist church. She remembered the church as austere, with tall box pews and high narrow seats (Goodwin, 1).

Clara Barton was a Union nurse who assisted soldiers, usually on the front lines, unlike most nurses at many battles of the Civil War, including Antietam where she was referred to as the “angel of the battlefield”. Clara also helped found the Red Cross and helped identify dead bodies at the Andersonville prison. Clara helped by bringing supplies and tending to wounded or dying soldiers, sometimes moving them to avoid a battle to come.

Clara Barton is remembered for risking her life to treat soldiers on the battlefield and founding the American Red Cross. Shortly

Also on how they better enhanced the ability to nurse the wounded and also the enhancements of proper stations to attend to the soldiers. Clara barton notice the conditions that the soldiers were living in and also how long they had to wait for medical attention if they were wounded. She starts to treat soldiers in the battlefield that are wounded. This helps save many lives. Mary Ann Ball Bickerdyke or “Mother Bickerdyke” was a well respected nurse who set up 300 stations in battlefields for wounded soldiers.

Lastly, Barton unquestionably put the needs of others first. Throughout her entire life she devoted to helping others, by going to war zones, creating the Red Cross, and much more.

She was called the "Angel of the Battlefield", for her courageous actions and care for the wounded soldiers ("The Biography" 4). It is outrageous to think that the only experience with medicine before the war was when one of her brothers fell off the roof of the barn and she nursed him for two years. Clara Barton had the natural gift to nurse; it was a second nature to her to tend to others.

After the Battle of Cedar Mountain, Barton arrived at the field’s hospital with a wagon loaded with supplies. “The surgeon on duty, overwhelmed by the human disaster surrounding him, wrote later, “I thought that night if heaven ever sent out a[n] . . . angel, she must be one—her assistance was so timely”.” Clara Barton was the closest being to an Angel the soldiers have ever seen. In the face of danger, 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.”5 She was never satisfied and took extraordinary efforts, including putting her life in danger, nursing, comforting, and cooking for the wounded and sick

Clara Barton realized that the Red Cross could be useful to civilians as well. She started to convince people of the need for taking part in the Red Cross work. She helped establish the American branch of the Red Cross in 1880. Barton became the president, and held the post from 1892 to 1904. During that time she took charge of the relief work in the yellow fever epidemic in Florida in 1877 and in the floods at Johnston, Pa, in 1889. Barton protocols are still used today by the American Red Cross. These women were the founders of nursing and laid the foundation for the profession enjoyed by the nurses of today. They would be proud of the many choices women and men have today if they choose nursing as a profession