Clara Barton

Clara Barton memorial (Flickr)

In 1862 Clara Barton got a pass from General William to ride in an army ambulance to help wounded soldiers, nurse them back to health, and bring supplies to them during the battle of Bull Run. In 1865 Abraham Lincoln put her in charge to help find missing Union Army men. She found 30,000 men while doing this. When the war ended she went to Andersonville, Georgia to mark graves of Union Soldiers. Her work started a nationwide campaign to identify all the missing Union soldiers from the Civil War. After her trip to Europe she went to the United States Government to start the Committee for the Red Cross. When she started it in 1873 America thought they would never see anything like the Civil War again.

She lived between 1821 and 1912 in Massachusetts, she helped the soldiers during the Civil War and started the American Red Cross. She was trying to help the soldiers after the war. She did this because she is a hero. She helped by taking care of wounded soldiers, finding missing soldiers, and starting the American Red Cross. This is important because if she didn't do all these amazing things we would be missing more soldiers and we wouldn't have the Red Cross today.

Clara Barton's grave (Flickr)

Anyone could look at Clara's life and say she is a hero. I think she is a hero because she helped wounded soldiers. She went and found 30,000 missing Union soldiers, and she started the American Red Cross that everyone still knows today.

When the Civil War started there were many soldiers getting wounded here and there. When they were sending supplies to the Union army, General William gave Clara Barton a pass to come and help them with the wounded soldiers. She nursed the soldiers back to health. Eventually in 1862 she got permission to work behind the lines of some of the grimmest battlefields. Benjamin Butler, a Union general, appointed her "the lady in charge" of all of the hospitals. In 1865 Abe declared Clara in charge of finding all of the Union soldiers. While she looked for the missing soldiers, she found 30,000 men. After the war ended she went to Georgia to mark any unmarked Union soldiers' graves. Her work in Georgia was pointed out in a book called "Number All The Bones" by Ann Rinaldi. This launched her nationwide campaign to find all missing soldiers. She put names in newspapers and exchanged letters with soldiers' families.

In 1870 after helping for a while, her doctors decided to send her to Europe for a vacation for a while. While there, she became involved with the International Committee of the Red Cross. In 1863, after her return to America, she started the American Red Cross, which made people think there would never be a calamity like the Civil War again. Then James Garfield thought of the idea that the American Red Cross could respond to more than just war. When Barton expanded the idea that the American Red Cross could respond to any natural disaster, it gave the United States the "Good Samaritan of nations" label.

Clara Barton's legacy would probably be that she was a great nurse and started the American Red Cross.

American Red Cross (Flickr)

Quote: ... "I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it."