Clara Barton is rightfully considered one the greatest humanitarians of the 19th century.

She broke tradition and went to the front to nurse wounded soldiers, thus opening the door for better medical care and female nurses. She courageously assisted doctors at the Battle of Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Ox Hill, and even crossed the pontoon bridge at Fredericksburg under heavy fire. But in the winter of 1863 the army consolidated its medical work under the authority of Dorothea Dix and the Christian Sanitary Commission. Clara and Miss Dix had a personality clash and were rivals. Therefore Clara would not work under her and there was no longer a place for her as an individual volunteer.

She felt useless and sank into depression. Her friends pulled strings and her brother was assigned to the commissary on Hilton Head Island and Clara gained permission to accompany him. When she arrived she discovered that the quartermaster, Col. John Elwell, had been injured in a riding accident. Clara used her nursing skills and spent most of her time with him. They read and laughed together and she wrote in her diary, “I called on the colonel and had an intellectual feast.” Finally she had an admirer who could charm her and appreciate her fine mind.

After his recovery they shared their passion for riding and galloped through the pounding surf. He called her “my pet, or Birdie.” She came often to his room and they ignored gossip when he made frequent visits to his “Birdie’s nest.” Their absorption with each other caused them to forget propriety.

He wrote, “I loved her all the law would allow and a little bit more.” She spoke rapturously of leaving his rooms at dawn in the glow of love.

When Union forces attacked Fort Wagner, Clara watched from a rescue boat. Amidst the carnage, she saw her beloved Col. Elwell fall. She scrambled ashore under fire and reached him, helped him, and later nursed him to recovery.

Clara knew that their “golden moments together” must end when Col. Elwell’s loving wife from Ohio was due to visit. Clara returned to Washington via New York and again sank into deep depression. There was no niche for her, no way to be useful. It appears she was considering suicide when she wrote, “Having been sad all day, I cannot raise my spirits, or shake the old temptation to go from the world. I think it will come to that some day; it is a struggle to keep in society. I want to leave all.”

But thankfully, Clara hung on. Although she had lost the love of her life, she turned her energies to helping others. Lincoln again tapped her to organize correspondence with the families of casualties. But God gave Clara a bigger vision, and you know the rest of the story. She worked for years to gain Congressional approval and organize the American Red Cross.

We can all be inspired by Clara’s story. She was human. She made mistakes. She felt useless and life didn’t seem worth living. But she turned her energies away from herself and towards helping others. As a result hundreds of thousands have been blessed during war and natural disasters through the immediate response of the American Red Cross.