Q&A YOU ASK, WE ANSWER
Why was Clara Barton the ‘angel of the battlefield’?
SHORT ANSWER The fact that it was NOT for founding the American Red Cross illustrates the extent of her deeds
LONG ANSWER Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross in 1881 and served as its president for more than 20 years, advancing medical care for the sick and wounded as a result of both war and natural disaster. By then, however, her status as an ‘angel’ had already been long established.
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Barton, who had no nursing training, quickly reached the conclusion that she could do the most good at the frontlines. She secured permission to travel with the Union Army to bring wagons laden with medicines and supplies, making her a regular presence at some of the bloodiest battles in the conflict, such as Antietam, fought in September 1862. One time, a bullet ripped through her sleeve and struck the man she was nursing.
Barton mastered the administration of nursing – gathering supplies, recovering soldiers’ luggage and searching for missing men – and the emotional care, as she spent hours praying for the wounded. No wonder that one surgeon, Dr James Dunn, wrote: “In my feeble estimation, [Union] General McClellan, with all his laurels, sinks into insignificance, beside the true heroine of the age, the angel of the battlefield.”
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