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Clara Barton's Role In The Civil War

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“This conflict is one thing I've been waiting for. I'm well and strong and young - young enough to go to the front. If I can't be a soldier, I'll help soldiers.”
Clara Barton (brainyquote.com) The Civil war is known as the bloodiest war in America. With improved weapons that could kill, many soldiers were getting wounded and killed by the second. Women played a big role in helping heal the wounded men; one of the most famous was Clara Barton, born in the north and aided the union. Even though she was only just one woman, she played a major part in the Civil War and in shaping medical care on the battlefront.
Before and during the civil war, the north in the 1800’s was centered about industry. Even though the cities were very unsanitary, many …show more content…
Barton was a shy child, but her love for people and helping others was a gift of hers. When Barton was young, her brother was in an accident and she was the one that helped him through it. Then, when she was 15 years old, she went into teaching. Years later, she decided to open a “free public school in New Jersey” (www.biography.com). In her thirties she “worked in the U.S. Patent Office as a clerk” (biography.com). However, she lost her job when the democrats took office. After Clara lost her job in 1862, she started working as a nurse during the Civil War and continued that career until 1865. After the civil war, she helped families find their missing sons that were once soldiers or uncover soldiers that had died in order to give them proper burials . Afterward, Barton was told to go to Europe for medical reasons, where she found an organization called “The Red Cross”. When she came home from Europe, she began working on making a Red Cross in America. Clara Barton finally succeeded in organizing one in 1881. Barton retired in 1904, but did not quit working. She “gave speeches and lectures and wrote a book entitled The Story of My Childhood” (www.biography.com). In 1912 on April 12, Barton said her finale goodbyes in Glen Echo, Maryland. Clara Barton had a successful life and accomplished many things. However, as mentioned earlier, one of the most prominent of her works was …show more content…
Staying with the medical units was considered a “sin” to her. “At Antietam, she ordered the drivers of her supply wagons to follow the cannon and traveled all night, actually pulling ahead of military medical units” (redcross.com). She wrote: “I always tried…to succor the wounded until medical aid and supplies could come up- I could run the risk; it made no difference to anyone if I were shot or taken prisoner” (redcross.com). She never feared getting hurt or killed; all she wanted was to bring relief to as many soldiers as she could. “In fact, she was so close to the line of fire that once during the Battle of Antietam, Barton was helping a man, but he was killed when a bullet went through her sleeve”(history.com). Clara Barton was busy during battles bringing relief to anyone she could find. She “nursed, comforted, and cooked for the wounded” (redcross.com). Throughout the Civil War, Barton was always working and her work didn’t stop till years after the war

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