Clara+Barton+Angel+of+the+Battlefield+and+Beyond

Clara Barton: Angel of the Battlefield and Beyond John Gordon East Tennessee State University School of Nursing

Clara Barton is representative of the Humanitarian Theory both of nursing and of humanity as a whole. Barton’s role as a humanitarian began before the events for which she is historically famous and continued throughout her life. When Barton crossed paths with a need she stepped in to affect it. In general, she first involved herself personally on a smaller scale and then began to recruit and organize others on a large scale. One of the aspects I appreciate most about Barton’s greatest humanitarian efforts; those during the Civil War and the establishment of the American Red Cross; is that her efforts were to organized citizens outside governmental structures. By doing so, she created systems that could more rapidly bring aid and comfort without become overly entangled in governmental red tape. These types of organizational efforts bring out the best in free peoples by inspiring them to aid their neighbors directly rather than by compelling them through taxation and regulation. These examples demonstrate what free people can do on their own to organize and solve big problems when government gets out of the way. One could ask today is the American Red Cross needed with all that government does for disaster relief. The answer is very clear. The American Red Cross is very much needed today and will be needed in the future.

Clara Barton was born in Oxford, Mass., on Dec 25, 1821 the youngest of five children. She learned horseback riding and “boyish hobbies” from her brothers while her father was a source of stories of the Indian Wars (“Clara Barton, 1821-1912,” n.d. Shy Tomboy section, para 2). She was well regarded as a student but preferred the outdoors rather than indoor activities expected of young ladies. As a result, she had a reputation for being a tomboy, but she was also very shy. Despite this, she readily applied herself when faced with any crisis. When her brother became ill Barton learned all of his medical treatments and stayed at his side. These types of hands-on experiences were the source of her medical training because she was never formally educated as a nurse.

During Clara Barton’s early adult life she demonstrated an adventurous spirit. During this historical period, most people, especially women, did not travel widely from their birthplace. Conversely, Clara Barton sought her formal education in New York State and became a teacher in Bordentown, NJ where childhood education was privately funded. Barton began to notice the number of children who could not afford an education and it wasn’t long before she began organizing New Jersey’s first public school. The effort was a success and within the first year it had hundreds of students. But because she was a woman, she was replaced as head of the school (“Women in History,” n.d. Accomplishment section, para 2).

Barton then moved to Washington, D.C. and took a job as a clerk at the US Patent Office which was no small achievement for a woman of the time (“Clara Barton: Founder,” n.d. Civil War Service section, para. 1). Now, one can focus on the injustice of this event or look to the providence of it. This event had led Barton to the location and time when she would begin to establish herself as a historical giant. Not long after settling herself in Washington, D.C. the US Civil War began with all of its horrors and on a scale unprecedented in the short history of the country.

At its onset, the Medical Corps, the Army, the US Government and the population as a whole were unprepared for the scale of death and injury that was to commence. Barton, however, observed that wounded soldiers were underserved and she was ready to do something about it. In April 1861, following the Battle of Bull Run, she organized efforts to provide much needed supplies to care sites despite the crippling bureaucracies that hindered their flow. By July 1862 she even began to follow troop movements with her supply wagons to the battlefields frequently in advance of medical units (“Profiles in Caring,” n.d. para. 5-7). At great personal risk, she and her associates were ready to gather the wounded in the midst of battle providing hope and care until medical services arrived. As a result, Barton became known nationally as the “Angel of the Battlefield” by both soldiers and their families but she was not done yet.

Imagine the feelings one might have if a family member suddenly disappeared, especially in war or disaster, and there was no system in place to find that person. During the Civil War and its aftermath soldiers who were taken prisoner, wounded, or killed frequently vanished. Barton and her associates, not the Army or US government, “…received and answered over 63,000 letters and identified over 22,000 missing men.” Later at Andersonville, the notorious Confederate prison camp, Barton and 30 military men identified the graves of nearly 13,000 union prisoners. For the 400 unidentified graves, she advocated a memorial which predated our Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (“Clara Barton: Founder,” n.d. Civil War Service section, para. 4, 5). Following this, she led a nationwide campaign to identify the maximum number of missing soldiers possible (“Clara Barton, 1821-1912,” n.d. An Idea is Born section, para 2).

The years of arduous service left her seriously debilitated and on the advice of her doctors, she took a trip to Europe in 1869 to rest and recover (“Profiles in Caring,” n.d. para. 9). The Franco-Prussian War commenced in 1870 leaving many of the common people of France destitute. The Red Cross, established in 1864 in Switzerland and chartered to bring aid to all people in war regardless of nationality, went into action. Despite her infirmity, Barton went back to work aiding the Red Cross and found much to value in this organization.

Returning to the US, Barton began efforts to establish an American Red Cross. For historical context, it should be pointed out that the unprecedented scale of destruction that resulted from the Civil War lead to a prevailing belief that the US was done with war forever. When Barton tried to establish the American Red Cross there were many that felt that a US based Red Cross would be unnecessary because the purpose of the Red Cross was to bring aid and comfort in war.

In 1881 after years of effort, Congress recognized the American Red Cross as a national institution to provide disaster relief (Henle, p. 153). Barton, at 60, had finally succeeded as she did in many of her other efforts that are beyond the scope of this paper. Barton continued be active in on site relief work into her 70’s but resigned as the president of the Red Cross in 1904 (“Clara Barton, 1821-1912,” n.d. A Life’s Work section, para 3). Thanks to Barton, the American Red Cross continues to thrive today having earned many accolades in its response to uncounted crises both small and large across the US.

Barton never married but was devoted to her causes over the course of her magnificent life. She never had children but looked upon the soldiers she aided as “her boys.” She died in 1912 at the age of 90 and is buried a mile from her birthplace. Following years of adventures, struggles, and accomplishment; Clara Barton finally returned home for a well deserved rest, a hero among heroes. This is only a small part of Barton’s story but more than enough to remember, share, and by which to be inspired.

References:

//Clara Barton, 1821-1912 Civil War Nurse Founder American Red Cross. //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Retrieved from []

//<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Clara Barton: Founder of the American Red Cross //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">. Retrieved from []

//<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Clara Barton’s House: Home of the American Red Cross //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">. Retrieved from []

Henle, E. L. (1978). Clara Barton, Soldier or Pacifist. //Civil War History//, 24, 152-160

//<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Profiles in Caring: Clara Barton 1821 – 1912. // <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Retrieved from []

//<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Women in History. Clara Barton biography //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">. Last Updated: 5/26/2011. Retrieved from [].