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The Angel of the Battlefield

© Michael J. Swogger

The Civil War saw many unlikely heroes emerge from both sides. Often when talk about heroes of the War, the discussion seems to limit itself to the men who fought on the battlefields, those who commanded them, and the President himself. But we cannot forget those who sacrificed more than many of us would if in their place. When talking of heroes, we need discussion of the women who dedicated their war years to allowing others to live through it, even just a little more easily.

Clara Barton was one of those heroes. A Massachusetts native, Barton was a 40-year-old copyist in the patent office in Washington when the War began. She saw her first experience with casualties after the brief attack on the 6th Massachusetts in Baltimore prior to First Manassass. Though never formally trained in nursing, Barton took it upon herself to act as an independent nurse, delivering wagonloads of medicines and aid to the front lines of battle. She would often turn up on battlefields and field hospitals to comfort the wounded and "goad careless or indifferent surgeons" (McPherson, 1988, p. 483).

One true episode of heroism came during the fighting at Antietam in September of 1862. "Her wagon followed the Union 2nd Corps onto the battlefield. A surgeon was killed while taking a drink from her and she even operated on one of the wounded, extracting a bullet from his cheek" (Clara Barton Biography, 1999, p. 1).

Barton also knew how to play politics, as she held friendships with powerful congressmen. This enabled her to successfully fight for many reforms in army medicine. In 1865, Lincoln himself asked that Barton head the horrible task of identifying missing soldiers. In this role, she visited Andersonville prison and gathered considerable evidence of the inhumane treatment of prisoners that was common there (Davis, 1996).

After the War, she went overseas to tend to the sick and wounded in the Franco-Prussion War. Upon her return, Barton spent most of her energy in forming the American chapter of the International Red Cross. The organization was formed in 1881, and she served as its president until 1904.

Like many women of the War, Clara Barton was an amazing and courageous figure. She emerged as a true hero to those who fought, the families who prayed for their children's safe return, all of the country's citizens and their posterity. Along with Harriet Beecher Stowe, Dorthea Dix, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Clara Barton is among the greatest leaders of the women's efforts to achieve equality in the United States. And she contributed to this effort in the most selfless, compassionate way possible.