Editing Clara Barton (section)

==American Civil War==
[[File:Clarabartonwcbbrady.jpg|right|thumb|Barton c. 1866]]

On April 19, 1861, the [[Baltimore riot of 1861|Baltimore Riot]] resulted in the first bloodshed of the American Civil War. The victims, members of the [[6th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Militia|6th Massachusetts Militia]], were transported after the violence to the unfinished Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., where Barton lived at the time. Wanting to serve her country, Barton went to the railroad station when the victims arrived and nursed 40 men.<ref name=":2" /> Barton provided crucial, personal assistance to the men in uniform, many of whom were wounded, hungry and without supplies other than what they carried on their backs. She personally took supplies to the building to help the soldiers.

Barton quickly recognized them, as she had grown up with some of them and even taught some. Barton, along with several other women, personally provided clothing, food, and supplies for the sick and wounded soldiers. She learned how to store and distribute medical supplies and offered emotional support to the soldiers by keeping their spirits high. She would read books to them, write letters to their families for them, talk to them, and support them.<ref name="redcross.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.redcross.org/about-us/history/clara-barton|title=Clara Barton {{!}} American Red Cross Founder {{!}} Who is Clara Barton|website=American Red Cross|access-date=December 9, 2016}}</ref>

It was on that day that she identified herself with army work and began her efforts towards collecting medical supplies for the Union soldiers. Prior to distributing provisions directly onto the battlefield and gaining further support, Barton used her own living quarters as a storeroom and distributed supplies with the help of a few friends in early 1862, despite opposition in the War Department and among field surgeons.<ref name=":0" /> [[Ladies' Aid Society]] helped in sending bandages, food, and clothing that would later be distributed during the Civil War.  In August 1862, Barton finally gained permission from [[Quartermaster]] Daniel Rucker to work on the front lines.  She gained support from other people who believed in her cause.  These people became her patrons, her most supportive being [[Henry Wilson|Senator Henry Wilson]] of Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Woman of Valor |last=Oates |first=Stephen B. |author-link=Stephen B. Oates |publisher=Macmillan |year=1994 |isbn=0029234050 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/womanofvalorclar00oate/page/13 13, 51–52] |url=https://archive.org/details/womanofvalorclar00oate/page/13 }}</ref>

After the [[First Battle of Bull Run]], Barton placed an ad in a Massachusetts newspaper for supplies; the response was a profound influx of supplies.<ref name="Tsui">{{cite book|last=Tsui|first=Bonnie|title=She Went to the Field: Women Soldiers of the Civil War|location=Guilford|publisher=Two Dot|date=2006|isbn=978-0762743841|page=110}}</ref> She worked to distribute stores, clean field hospitals, apply dressings, and serve food to wounded soldiers in close proximity to several battles, including [[Battle of Cedar Mountain|Cedar Mountain]], [[Second Battle of Bull Run|Second Bull Run]], [[Battle of Antietam|Antietam]], and [[Battle of Fredericksburg|Fredericksburg]].<ref>{{cite book |title=A Woman of Valor |last=Oates |first=Stephen B. |publisher=Macmillan |year=1994 |isbn=0029234050 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/womanofvalorclar00oate/page/58 58–64, 67–77, 83–91, 106–120] |url=https://archive.org/details/womanofvalorclar00oate/page/58 }}</ref> Barton helped both Union and Confederate soldiers.<ref name="Tsui"/> Supplies were not always readily available though. At the battle of Antietam, for example, Barton used corn-husks in place of bandages.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hall|first=Richard H.|title=Women on the Civil War Battlefront|location=Lawrence|publisher=University Press of Kansas|year=2006|isbn=978-0700614370|page=41}}</ref> Speaking of her commitment to being a nurse in the war after experiencing battle, Clara would say,  "I shall remain here while anyone remains, and do whatever comes to my hand. I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Snapshots |first=Historical |date=2021-03-02 |title=Clara Barton: A snapshot biography |url=https://historicalsnaps.com/2021/03/02/a-snapshot-biography-of-clara-barton/ |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=Historical Snapshots |language=en-US}}</ref>

In April 1863, Barton accompanied her brother, David, to [[Port Royal, South Carolina]] in the Union-occupied [[Sea Islands]] after he was appointed as a [[quartermaster]] within the [[Union Navy]].<ref name="Diary1">{{cite web |last1=Barton |first1=Clara |title=Clara Barton Papers: Diaries and Journals: 1863, Apr. 2-July 23 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/mss119730008/ |website=Library of Congress |access-date=6 April 2024}}</ref> Clara Barton resided in the Sea Islands until early 1864.<ref name="Diary2">{{cite web |last1=Barton |first1=Clara |title=Clara Barton Papers: Diaries and Journals: 1863, Dec. 3-1864, May 7 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/mss119730009 |website=Library of Congress |access-date=6 April 2024}}</ref> While in South Carolina, she became friends with prominent abolitionist and feminist [[Frances Dana Barker Gage]], who had traveled south to educate formerly enslaved people (see [[Port Royal Experiment]]).<ref name="Diary1"/> Barton also became acquainted with [[Jean Margaret Davenport]], an actress from [[England]] who was then residing on the Sea Islands with her husband, Union General [[Frederick W. Lander]].<ref name="Diary1"/> Barton provided medical care to the Black soldiers of the [[54th Massachusetts Regiment]] following their attack on [[Fort Wagner]].<ref name="Diary1"/> Additionally, she traveled to [[Morris Island, South Carolina|Morris Island]] to nurse Union soldiers there, accompanied by a Black woman named Betsey who worked under Barton during her time in the Sea Islands.<ref name="Diary2"/> She quarreled with General [[Quincy Adams Gillmore]] after he suddenly ordered her to evacuate her post at Morris Island.<ref name="Diary2"/> Also in the Sea Islands, she became acquainted with a Union officer, Colonel John J. Elwell. Historian Stephen B. Oates claims that Barton and Elwell had a romantic and sexual relationship.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Woman of Valor |last=Oates |first=Stephen B. |publisher=Macmillan |year=1994 |isbn=0029234050 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/womanofvalorclar00oate/page/145 145–146, 148–157] |url=https://archive.org/details/womanofvalorclar00oate/page/145 }}</ref>

In 1864, she was appointed by Union General [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Butler]] as the "lady in charge" of the hospitals at the front of the [[Army of the James]]. Among her more harrowing experiences was an incident in which a bullet tore through the sleeve of her dress without striking her and killed a man to whom she was tending.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clara Barton (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/people/clara-barton.htm |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref> She was known as the "[[Florence Nightingale]] of America".<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZW_aAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA115 |title=The Life of Clara Barton: Founder of the American Red Cross, Volume 2 |chapter=The Forerunners of the Red Cross |first=William Eleazar |last=Barton |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] |page=115 |year=1922 |access-date=February 4, 2019 |via=Google Books}}</ref> She was also known as the "Angel of the Battlefield"<ref name="redcross.org"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=August 19, 2021 |title=Red Cross |url=https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/red-cross#section_2 |access-date=February 23, 2024 |website=History.com}}</ref> after she came to the aid of the overwhelmed surgeon on duty following the battle of Cedar Mountain in Northern Virginia in August 1862.  She arrived at a field hospital at midnight with a large number of supplies to help the severely wounded soldiers. This naming came from her frequent timely assistance as she served troops at the battles of Fairfax Station, Chantilly, Harpers Ferry, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Charleston, Petersburg and Cold Harbor.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/7315/ |title = The Story of My Childhood |website = [[World Digital Library]] |year = 1907 |access-date = October 9, 2013 }}</ref>