Clara Barton's Role In The Civil War

Clara Barton
Thousands of lives would have not been lost if Clare Barton did not play the role she did in the Civil War. Clara Barton was an influential leader during the Civil War due to her childhood experiences, decisions she made during the war, and the legacy she left behind after the war.
Clara Bartonś life before the civil war molded her to be an influential person in our nation's history. Born in Massachusetts in 1821 Clara Harlowe Barton was the youngest of six children. Barton reinforced her early education with practical experience, working as a clerk and bookkeeper for her oldest brother (civil war trust). Her siblings and family helped her with her education. Sally and Dorothy, her two sisters, taught Clara how to read. Stephen,

and, when the Civil War broke out, she was one of the first volunteers to show up at the Washington Infirmary to care for wounded soldiers. After her father had passed away late in 1861, Barton left the city hospitals to go among the soldiers in the field. Early in 1861 Barton returned to Washington, D.C. Her presence—and the supplies she brought with her in three army wagons—were particularly welcome at the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) where overworked surgeons were trying to make bandages out of corn husks. Barton organized able-bodied men to perform first aid, carry water, and prepare food for the wounded. Throughout the war, Barton and her supply wagons traveled with the Union army giving aid to Union casualties and Confederate prisoners. Some of the supplies, like the transportation, were provided by the army quartermaster in Washington, D.C., but most were purchased with donations solicited by Barton or by her own funds. (After the war she was reimbursed by Congress for her expenses). In 1863, Clara Barton would travel to the Union controlled coastal regions around Charleston, South Carolina. On July 14, 1863 Barton moved from Hilton Head Island to Morris Island to tend the growing number of ill and injured soldiers - a list that would greatly expand after the failed Union assault on Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863. Later in the Morris Island campaign, Clara Barton, working out of her tent, would seek to address the

After the war ended in 1865, Clara Barton worked for the War Department, to either reunite lost soldiers and their families or find out more about those who were lost . She also became a lecturer and crowds of people came to hear her talk about her war experiences. President and volunteered in Cuba during the Spanish-American war (Civil War Trust).In 1869 Clara Barton traveled to Geneva, Switzerland as a member of the International Red Cross. In 1880 the American Red Cross was created, the culmination of a decade of work by Barton. She served as the organization’s first president until 1904 and continued her tradition of philanthropy as a volunteer in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.Clara Barton passed away in 1912 at the age of ninety-one.Clara Barton decided to leave the American Red Cross in 1904 amid an internal power struggle and maintained of financial mismanagement (Civil War Trust). While she was known to be an autocratic leader, she never took a salary for her work within the organization and sometimes used her funds to support relief efforts. After leaving the Red Cross, Clara Barton remained active, giving speeches and lectures. She also wrote a book entitled The Story of My Childhood, which was published in 1907. Barton died at her home in Glen Echo, Maryland, on April 12, 1912 (civil war trust). Overall clara barton successfully helped many people in the war and did us a lot of