April 12, 1861
Civil War begins with the firing on Ft. Sumter,
South Carolina.
April 19, 1861
Riots, Baltimore, Maryland.
En route to defend the nation's capital, the
6th Massachusetts Infantry is attacked by mobs of southern-sympathizing
Baltimoreans as the soldiers walk across town between train stations. They
arrive in Washington, D.C. beaten and with several members of their regiment
dead. Miss Barton finds them temporarily quartered in the Senate Chamber
of the U. S. Capitol and provides supplies from her own household for their
comfort. An overwhelming response to her request for additional supplies
for the troops marks the start of her legacy as one who receives, stores,
and distributes supplies during the Civil War
July 21, 1861
Battle of First Manassas (Bull Run), Virginia.
Miss Barton attends Federal wounded as they
arrive in Washington, D.C. Establishes a distribution agency after receiving
additional supplies following an advertisement in the Worcester (Massachusetts)
Spy.
1862
Henry Dunant, a Swiss businessman, publishes
an account of an 1859 battle between French and Austrian forces near Solferino,
Italy. In Un Souvenir de Solferino, he outlines a need for wartime relief
societies. Clara Barton is unaware of this publication.
March 21, 1862
Father, Stephen Barton, dies in North Oxford,
Massachusetts after inspiring Clara Barton toward patriotic support for
the country.
August 3, 1862
Gains official permission to transport supplies
to battlefields.
August 9, 1862
Battle of Cedar Mountain (Culpepper), Virginia.
This is the first documented battle at which Clara Barton serves on the
field. Arriving on August 13, she spends two days and nights tending the
wounded. Before leaving, she also provides assistance at a field hospital
for Confederate prisoners.
August 28-30, 1862
Battle of Second Manassas (Bull Run), Virginia.
September 1, 1862
Battle of Chantilly, Virginia.
Arriving at Fairfax Station after the battles,
Miss Barton tends the wounded and prepares the injured for train evacuation
to Washington, D.C.
September 14, 1862
Battle of South Mountain, Maryland.
Aids wounded at battles near Harper's Ferry, Virginia (West Virginia) and
South Mountain.
September 17, 1862
Battle of Antietam, Maryland.
Miss Barton and her wagons arrive on the field with the Army of the Potomac
prior to the battle. She provides surgeons with desperately needed medical
supplies. During the battle she is nearly killed when a bullet passes through
the sleeve of her dress, killing the wounded man she is attending. Although
lacking medical training, at the insistence of a wounded soldier she extracts
a bullet from his cheek, using her pocket knife. Working for several days
following the conflict, Miss Barton is weakened by typhoid fever.
Sept. - Nov. 1862
Travels with the Army of the Potomac as it
pursues the retreating Confederates into Virginia. Provides aid to the
wounded at several minor skirmishes, and accompanies patients to hospitals
in Washington, D.C.
December 13, 1862
Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Miss Barton assists in a divisional hospital of the IX Corps, which is
established at the Lacy House (Chatham). She remains in the field through
most of the month, following the rout of the Federal Army.
April 1863
Arrives at Hilton Head, South Carolina in preparation
for the anticipated bombardment of Charleston. Joins brother, Captain David
Barton, an Army Quartermaster and fifteen year old nephew, Steven E. Barton,
serving in the military telegraph office. Meets and befriends Colonel John
J. Elwell.
May 1863
Meets Frances D. Gage and assists in the care
and education of former slaves and freedmen. Miss Barton develops an interest
in the growing cause for equal rights among women and African-Americans.
August 10 - 11, 1863
Siege of Ft. Wagner, South Carolina.
Miss Barton helps to establish field hospitals and distributes supplies
following the failed assaults.
January - May, 1864
Returns to Washington, D.C. to collect supplies
and to recuperate.
May 1864
Battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania
Court House near Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Arranges for the opening of private homes for the care of wounded, with
the assistance of Senator Henry Wilson, Chairman of the Military Affairs
Committee.
June 1864
Battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia.
Fredericksburg continues to be an important hospital and logistical center
for the Federal Army, as wounded pour in from the overland campaigns toward
Richmond.
June 23, 1864
Miss Barton is placed in charge of diet and
nursing at a X Corps Hospital near Point of Rocks, Virginia, appointed
by Army of the James Commander Major General Benjamin F. Butler. The "flying
hospital" serves the wounded in the almost daily fighting outside
Petersburg.
August 1864
The first Geneva Convention for the Amelioration
of the Condition of Wounded in Armies in the Field is held in Geneva, Switzerland,
establishing the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Clara Barton is unaware of this event and the United States does not join
the organization.
Jan - March 10, 1865
Cares for dying brother, Stephen Barton.
March 1865
With the assistance of Senator Wilson, wins
the approval of President Abraham Lincoln to address the problem of large
numbers of missing soldiers. By authority of the President, establishes
the Office of Correspondence with Friends of the Missing Men of the United
States Army on March 11. Recognition by the War Department follows two
months later. Directs four year search for missing men.
April 9, 1865
Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders
to Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House,
Virginia, signalling the end of the Civil War.
Summer 1865
Andersonville Prison, Georgia.
Aided largely by records kept by prison survivor Dorance Atwater, Miss
Barton helps to locate and mark the graves of the nearly 13,000 Federal
soldiers who died in captivity there. She raises the U. S. Flag at the
dedication of Andersonville National Cemetery, August 17.
February 21, 1866
Testifies during the 39th Congress concerning her experiences and observations
while working in Andersonville, Georgia. Her testimony is recorded in the
Reports of the Committees of
the House of Representatives.
March 10, 1866
The U. S. Congress appropriates $15,000 to
reimburse Miss Barton for expenses associated with her search for missing
men.
1866 - 1868
Delivers over 200 lectures throughout the
northeast and midwest, telling of her Civil War experiences. Shares the
platform with such prominent figures as Frederick Douglass, Ralph Waldo
Emerson, William Lloyd Garrison and Mark Twain. At times, she will earn
$75 to $100 per lecture.
Nov. 30, 1867
Meets Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B.
Anthony. The resulting friendships align Miss Barton with the suffrage
movement.
December 1868
Loses voice while delivering a speech, due
to fatigue and mental prostration.
1869
Closes the Office of Correspondence with Friends
of the Missing Men of the United States Army, having received and answered
63,182 letters and identified 22,000 missing men.
Web page developed with the assistance of Volunteer Jade Curtis
Chronology authored by Staff and Volunteers
Clara Barton National Historic Site
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
url: www.nps.gov/clba/chron2.html
last modified 11/17/02