Timeline: Clara Barton, 1821–1912

Clara Barton is best known for founding the American Red Cross. She also served as a battlefield nurse during the American Civil War, and helped to identify tens of thousands of missing soldiers.

American Civil War (1861–1865)

Barton joined the war effort in 1862, and established an agency to distribute supplies to wounded soldiers. Barton provided frontline medical care during several battles, including the Battle of Antietam, the Siege of Petersburg, the Siege of Richmond, and more. In 1864, she was in charge of nursing at IX Corps Hospital in Virginia, which treated wounded soldiers from Petersburg.

In the summer of 1865, Barton helped to locate and mark the graves of nearly 13,000 Federal soldiers who had died in Andersonville Prison, Georgia. The experience led her to launch a nationwide campaign to identify missing soldiers. In 1865, Barton established the Office of the Correspondence with Friends of the Missing Men of the United States Army, with the support of President Abraham Lincoln. Barton published the names of missing soldiers in newspapers, corresponded with soldiers' families, and gave 200 lectures to raise funds for the organization. By the time the Office of the Correspondence closed in 1869, the group had identified 22,000 missing men and answered more than 63,000 letters.

She was hailed as the "Angel of the Battlefield" for her many contributions.

The American Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross was formed in 1864 under the First Geneva Convention, with the goal of caring for the sick and wounded during wartime. Barton learned about the group while visiting Switzerland in 1869, and worked with the International Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871).

Barton returned to the United States in 1873, and while recovering her health in Dansville, New York, she wrote to Dr. Louis Appia at the International Red Cross Headquarters to ask how she might set up a chapter of the Red Cross in America. Appia provided her with a three point plan: Win public support, gain the support of the president, and have the United States adopt the Geneva Convention.

In addition to providing impartial aid during wartime, Barton wanted to expand the Red Cross's mandate to provide humanitarian relief during emergencies and disasters. The organization of the American Red Cross would include national headquarters in Washington, DC, along with smaller offices in every state and local chapters in different communities. From 1877 to 1882, Barton campaigned tirelessly to make her vision a reality. President Hayes was unenthusiastic, but his successor President Garfield gave Barton his support.

On May 21, 1881, the American Association of the Red Cross was officially formed, and the first meeting was held in Barton's apartment. The first local Red Cross Society was organized in Dansville, New York on August 22, 1881, and a month later, the American Red Cross carried out their first humanitarian mission after Michigan forest fires killed 500 people and destroyed more than a million acres of land. The three Red Cross chapters distributed supplies to victims, and helped rebuild 50 homes. On March 1, 1882, the United States ratified the Geneva Convention.

Barton was the first president of the American Red Cross, and held the position for 23 years. As a direct result of Barton's work, an "American Amendment" was added to the First Geneva Convention in 1884, which allowed the International Red Cross to provide humanitarian aid during peace time.

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Meanwhile … 1809–1882: Lifetime of Charles Darwin. 1822–1895: Lifetime of Louis Pasteur. 1833: Slavery Abolition Act bans slavery in the British Empire. 1837–1901: Reign of Queen Victoria. 1843–1910: Lifetime of Robert Koch. 1847–1931: Lifetime of Thomas Edison. 1854–1856: Crimean War between France, the United Kingdom, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia. 1856–1939: Lifetime of Sigmund Freud. 1861–1865: American Civil War. 1867: Canadian Confederation.

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