Angel on the Battlefield

Did you know …

At the beginning of the Civil War, Clara Barton worked as a copyist in the U.S. Patent Office in Washington,  D.C. Before long, her desire to help the soldiers led her to collect supplies for them.

Clara takes medical supplies to the hospitals

Clara received permission to take her provisions to the sick and wounded. She filled a wagon with bread, pickled vegetables, bandages, salves, sheets, stimulants, and bed shirts. Two assistants went with her to the wounded soldiers near the battle. The doctors were happy for the supplies. She fed the patients and nursed them. When the supplies ran out, she went back home for more.

She requested goods for the soldiers from school committees, women’s aid societies, mayors, and former army officers. So much was sent that she rented warehouses to store them until she could return to the military hospitals.

Angel on the Battlefield

Clara made many trips to the battlefront with her supplies. She brought lanterns so the surgeons could work after the sun went down. She cooked food for hungry patients. She nursed them. She assisted the doctors. Once she even removed a bullet from a soldier’s face when the surgeons were too busy.

One doctor saw her coming with a wagon loaded with supplies just when the hospital needed them. He smiled and called her the “Angel on the Battlefield.” Others agreed and the name stuck.

The American Red Cross

After the war ended, Clara worked to find missing soldiers. When she grew exhausted, her doctor sent her to take a long rest in Geneva, Switzerland. While she was there, she learned of the International Red Cross, an organization that served wounded soldiers.

When a war began between France and Prussia, Clara went to help the soldiers. After the war ended, she returned to the United States and organized the American Red Cross.

Clara faced danger many times to help the wounded soldiers. The men she helped never forgot her.

– Sandra Merville Hart