Mort Kunstler 2017 Civil War Calendar, November: Clara Barton at Fredericksburg

THE ANGEL OF THE BATTLEFIELD

Clara Barton and Walt Whitman at Chatham, December 1862.  The Lacy House, known as "Chatham", was a stately mansion that overlooked the Rappahannock River and Fredericksburg.  It became a field hospital for untold numbers of Union and a number of Confederate casualties from the nearby battle at Fredericksburg.

"No fewer than 1,200  wounded men were packed into the rooms and hallways of the mansion.  Late arrivals from the battlefield lay on the cold, muddy ground.

Moving among the wounded was a volunteer nurse named Clara Barton.  She seemed to be everywhere:  distributing food, applying bandages, showing kindness to what she called the "hundreds of the worst wounded men I have ever seen."

Another nurse at the Lacy house was Walt Whitman.  The bearded poet was stunned by the crowded and chaotic situation he beheld.

--Old Secesh