comment on Capitol Hill. Soon after the defamatory letter reached the
Members of the National Legislature there came a near-explosion in the
House that promised to rival that of the Petersburg mine explosion of
Civil War days; and to which scene, in the blackness of night, midst
thunder and lightning and blinding storm, and on her horse with one
attendant taking her life in her hands, Clara Barton rushed to the scene
of death and mangled bodies, to save the lives of her country’s
patriots. Accompanying the near-explosion, there also was predicted a
tidal-wave as destructive to the Red Cross management as was that at
Galveston in 1900 to her stricken people; and hard-following which, from
what was then thought to be her death-bed, Clara Barton was on that
storm-swept coast, in charge of the life rescue station.
Especially tense was the consternation on the part of the members from
fifteen or twenty states whose peoples respectively (from 1881 to 1900),
had been the beneficiaries to the extent of thousands of lives saved and
untold sufferings assuaged, at the hands of that “_small American Red
Cross_.” What really quieted the five hundred legislators on Capitol
Hill was the rumor that the sensation came from a luxurious summer
resort in Canada, where there had been summering merely a harmless
phenomenon—an incinerator with a “continuous performance” furnace-flame,
containing no heat units. But just what happened, and why, at the
Nation’s Capital with threats, impendent, of a criminal suit and in the
“jungle of intrigue” following, is a story for the novelist, not a
subject for this pen picture.
One patriot-Congressman, however, for days kept revolving in his mind
the many awful scenes, in which Clara Barton was her country’s “Angel of
Mercy”; of the Michigan forest fires of 1881; of the two Mississippi
River floods of 1882 and 1883; of the Ohio and Mississippi River flood
of 1884, in which Clara Barton came near losing her life; of the
Charleston earthquake of 1886; of the Mt. Vernon cyclone of 1886; of the
Florida Yellow Fever scourge of 1888; of the Johnstown flood of 1889; of
the Cuban scourge of famine and war of 1898, where “The Angel of Mercy”
again lay at death’s door; nor could he forget the many other national,
and international, disasters in which the woman-patriot served her
country.
Her fitful days of war were over; in far-away New England, she was
sleeping her sleep of harmless peace; her character was being assailed
in the very Capitol Building where fifty-five years before she had cared
for the unfortunate boys of the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, who had
fallen in service to country. In all the world was there ever such
tragedy? But the “assassin” lives to a purpose; he serves to perpetuate
to posterity the virtues of his victim; in contrast, his victim seems
the more glorious. In such atmosphere of near-treason, as did many other
Congressmen, “Fighting Joe,” of Kansas, tried to be “reasonable,” but
his “Fighting Irish” got the best of him. He was too chivalric to give
his pent-up feelings vent to a woman; but he was less considerate of one
of the most distinguished of his men compatriots, as is shown in the
following letter (letter of record in “Sears’ Report to the Library
Committee of Congress”—page 139, but text given by Taggart from memory):
September 6, 1916.
Major-General Arthur Murray, U.S.A., Retired,
American Red Cross Society,
Washington, D. C.
My Dear General:
After a careful perusal of the enclosure on the subject of a tablet
for Miss Clara Barton, I find it my duty to say to you that I am
profoundly astonished that an officer of your rank would lend himself
to the publication of such an unseemly screed against one who is
esteemed the greatest of American women.
As one who served as a soldier in the least of capacities, I am
astonished that a distinguished soldier should have a shame in
belittling and accusing the dead—not simply the ordinary and common
dead, but a glorious woman who has departed.
To my mind, Miss Clara Barton gave expression to the sympathy and
tenderness of all the hearts of all the women in the world. If she was
overwrought, and did more than she might have done, who will say that
it was a fault? The whole world knew and loved her; and I daresay that
her own dear land, that she served with such unremitting devotion as
an angel of mercy, is the only place under all the stars where harsh
words were ever written or said about her.
General, I know you are not responsible for the inscrutable jealousy
that gnaws at the hearts of women. You did not write the article. I
have no commission to defend Miss Barton, except what I trust is the
best impulse of an American citizen. Her name should not perish and no
one should listen with patience to an attack upon her record, much
less her character.
Yours truly,
(Signed) JOSEPH TAGGART, M.C. 2nd Kansas District.
THE LIST OF NAMES OF TRIBUTES IN THE WAY OF BADGES, MEDALS, DECORATIONS
AND OTHER EVIDENCES OF ESTEEM PRESENTED TO CLARA BARTON.
No. 1. _Masonic Emblem._ Given to Clara Barton by her father, and worn
by her through the Civil War, 1861–1865.
No. 2. _The German Official Red Cross Field Badge._ Presented by the
Grand Duchess of Baden, and worn by Clara Barton through the
Franco-German War, 1870–1871.
No. 3. _The Iron Cross of Germany._ Conferred by Emperor William I and
Empress Augusta, 1871, in recognition of Clara Barton’s services for
humanity in the Franco-German War.
No. 4. _The Gold Cross of Remembrance._ Conferred by the Grand Duke and
Duchess of Baden, Germany, 1871.
No. 5. _Royal Brooch._ Presented by the Grand Duchess of Baden, Germany,
1897. When presenting this brooch to Clara Barton, the Grand Duchess
said: “An unbroken friendship of 26 years deserves to be tied by a knot
of gold.”
No. 6. _The Official Medal of the International Red Cross._ Presented by
The International Committee of Geneva to Clara Barton when, through her
efforts, the Congress of the United States adopted the Treaty of Geneva
in 1882.
No. 7. _Servian Decoration._ Conferred by Queen Nathalie of Servia,
1883, in recognition of Clara Barton’s services for humanity.
No. 8. _Gold Badge._ Presented by the National Woman’s Relief Corps to
Clara Barton, the sole Honorary Member of the Relief Corps, 1883.
No. 9. _Silver Medal._ Conferred by Augusta, Empress of Germany, 1884.
No. 10. _The Gold Badge of the “Waffengenosen.”_ German soldiers in
America, who took part in the Franco-German War 1870–1871, presented to
their Honorary Member, Clara Barton, 1885.
No. 11. _Silver Medal._ Of the Mass. Charitable Mechanics Institution.
Presented 1887.
No. 12. _Turkish Decoration._ Conferred by the Sultan Abdul-Hamid 1897,
through the State Dept., with the request that if America desired to
send further relief to his domains please send back the missionaries of
humanity they sent before.
No. 13. _Gold Badge of “Sorosis,” N. Y._ Presented to Clara Barton,
their Honorary Member, 1890.
No. 14. _Red Cross Insignia._ In Commemoration of the Armenian Relief
Field, 1896. Presented by Clara Barton’s Assistants on the field, in
memory of the same.
No. 15. _Gold Brooch and Locket._ Presented by the Ladies of Johnstown,
Pa., at the close of the Relief Work of the Johnstown Flood, 1889.
No. 16. _Amethyst Pendant—Royal jewel._ Given by the Grand Duchess of
Baden and constantly worn by Clara Barton.
No. 17. _Royal Jewel—Smoky Topaz surrounded by perfectly matched
pearls._ Presented by the Grand Duchess of Baden, 1884.
No. 18. _Royal Jewel—Topaz brooch with Red Cross._ Presented by Augusta,
Empress of Germany, 1887.
No. 19. _Belgian Decoration._ Conferred by the Red Cross of Belgium, in
1892.
No. 20. _Spanish Decoration of Honor._ Conferred by the Spanish
Government in 1898.
No. 21. _Gold Badge of “The Clara Barton Lodge of the Sisters of the G.
A. R. of Gloucester, Mass.”_ Presented to Clara Barton, their Honorary
Member, 1890.
No. 22. _Armenian Decoration._ Conferred by the Armenian Prince Guy
Lusignan, 1896, in recognition of services in relief of the Armenian
Massacres.
No. 23. _Russian Decoration._ Conferred by the Czar Nicholas and the
Dowager Empress Dagmar, 1892.
No. 24. _Gold Medal of the Vanderbilt Benevolent Association of South
Carolina._ Presented to Clara Barton, their Honorary President, 1894.
In addition to the above pictured decorations, the original collection
as arranged by Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe G. Wells for exhibition at the first
annual meeting of The National First Aid Association of America
contained
_Gold Badge of the War Veterans and Sons Association, of Brooklyn, N.
Y._ Presented to their Honorary Member, Clara Barton, April, 1899.
_Badge of the Loyal Legion of Women of Washington, D. C._ Presented to
their Honorary Member, Clara Barton, 1893.
_American Red Cross Pin._ Presented by a Friend.
_Silver Ink Stand._ Presented to Clara Barton on her departure for
Armenia, 1896, by Mr. Spencer Trask.
_Ivory Sealing Wax Set with Gold Trimmings._ Presented to Clara Barton
on her departure for Armenia in Relief of the Sufferers of the Massacres
in 1896 by Mrs. Charles Raymond, President Red Cross Hospital.
Top.—Picture of Clara Barton taken in Paris in 1871.
Clara Barton was also the recipient of many diplomas of honor,
resolutions, votes of thanks and commendations from rulers of nations,
legislative bodies, relief Committees and distinguished or titled
personages. In her home at Glen Echo the visitor could see many of
these, together with great flags of foreign nations which had been
presented to her as tributes to, and testimonials of, Clara Barton’s
great work for humanity.
[Illustration:
BADGES, MEDALS, DECORATIONS
]
The unintentionally offending official, on receiving the foregoing
letter, forthwith resigned his position in the Society; but the author
of the “unseemly screed” continues “full of honors”—a _shining_ Red
Cross light to the youth of this country, while the “screed” remains of
record as a blot on the fair name of the Red Cross Founder.
Contrasting Patriotic West towards the memory of the Father of his
Country and Political Washington towards the memory of the Mother of the
Red Cross, about this time there appeared the following
pertinent-to-the-occasion Associated Press dispatch:
JAIL WASHINGTON’S LIBELER
Tacoma Man Must Serve 4 Months for Attack on First President.
Olympia, Wash., Dec. 29.—As a libeler of George Washington’s memory,
Paul Haffer, of Tacoma, must serve four months in the county jail, the
Washington supreme court today upholding the conviction of Haffer on a
criminal libel charge.
Haffer published an article accusing the first President of the United
States of drunkenness and other irregularities.
_Washington Post_, Dec. 30, 1916.
It might be of interest, both to the friends and “enemies” of Clara
Barton, by way of contrast to this pathetic picture of her closing years
and of the more recent years, to know that three years before her
passing she deeded her “Glen Echo Red Cross Home,” the gift to her by
friends, to Dr. Julian B. Hubbell, who had served her cause for more
than thirty years without compensation, but with the expressed wish that
eventually it should revert to the American Red Cross. It can,
therefore, be said of Clara Barton and the Red Cross as similarly it was
said of that bond of “love eternal” between Theodosius and Constantia,
“They were lovely in their lives, and in their death they were not
divided.”
At no time in her life did Clara Barton seek preferment;—she said, “I
wish you could know how entirely indifferent I am to _personal_ honors
conferred.” She did not seek the Red Cross Presidency; she accepted it,
under protest, from President Garfield. Resigning the position several
times, she still continued to hold it because no one else acceptable to
the Society was found to take her place. She appealed to no jurist nor
politician to protect her, for _she had always lived and moved in the
full glare of the public gaze and could safely trust her character and
good name to the care of the American people_. She entrusted her all—her
Red Cross and her good name—to the Government she had “_loyally tried to
serve_:” and so long as the Red Cross banner is held sacred as the
emblem of America’s humanity God have mercy on her country and ours, if
that trust of woman shall have been misplaced.
The records, in the “reign of _terrorizing_,” show that the so-called
“charges” before the Library Committee were made by _one_ person,
unofficially, not by the Red Cross; by the _same_ person, of record in
1903, who made similar “charges” before the Red Cross Committee, the
accuser by the Committee discredited; by the _same_ person who appeared
before the Red Cross Proctor Committee, and there unceremoniously
“turned down”; by the _same_ person referred to by Clara Barton’s
successor to the Red Cross Presidency, as to the motive of the accuser
in the affidavit herein presented; by the _same_ person whom Clara
Barton refused to support as her successor; by the _same_ person who has
taken the rostrum since Clara Barton’s death to traduce the country’s
benefactor; by the _same_ “enemy” who has relentlessly persecuted Clara
Barton and traduced her memory for nearly twenty years; by the _same_
person whom Clara Barton received in her Red Cross household, and in her
personal household, as her friend; by the _same_ person who, on February
20, 1903, wrote to their mutual “_friend_,” Mrs. General John A. Logan
(letter of record): “Miss Barton is in town.... I know you will use all
your influence to have her accept the position of Honorary Presidency
for Life, with an annuity.”
The affidavit by Clara Barton’s immediate successor to the Red Cross
Presidency, Mrs. John A. Logan, as to the conspiracy and the object
hoped for, in the persecution; the statement by the “remonstrants”
themselves in 1903 as to the “_integrity_” of Clara Barton; the
statement of ex-Secretary of State Richard Olney; the summary dismissal
by the Proctor Red Cross Committee, and on motion of the Committee
itself, of the investigation of all “charges” whatsoever made by the
“remonstrants”; the unchallenged sworn statement by Attorney L. A.
Stebbins; the unchallenged signed statement by Attorney W. H. Sears; the
official statement by the American Red Cross that “There was no
foundation for such a “charge”; the exceeding high compliment by the
Library Committee of Congress;—all these facts of public record make
officially conclusive the _vindication_ (no, the spotless record), of
Clara Barton.” As her reputation has been three times in jeopardy, Clara
Barton has been thrice-_vindicated_, thrice officially complimented,
every time unanimously.
Truth is truth
To the end of the reckoning.
Previous to the date of the so-called “charges” in 1904, as tributes
unsolicited and graciously tendered, Clara Barton had received
twenty-seven decorations and other official honors; had received
tributes from nine American presidents, nine foreign rulers; also by
eleven foreign nations and several of our American States and Cities,
through official resolutions. Since 1904, the year in which the
conspiracy occurred, Clara Barton has been commended by two American
Presidents, at the laying of the corner stone of The Red Cross Building
at Washington by the U. S. Government through the then Acting Secretary
of War; by the Commander of the largest American army ever mobilized; by
at least three thousand American newspapers, not one newspaper in the
country commenting on the “charges” with approval; by America’s great
statesmen; by America’s great women; by a memorial representing a
million and one-half of American citizens; by the Civil War veterans,
North and South; by the United Spanish War Veterans; by the Sons of
Veterans; by the Legion of Loyal Women; by the National Woman’s Relief
Corps; by the National Army Nurses; by the National Woman Suffrage
Association; by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union; by the
Protestant, Catholic and other religious organizations; and by all other
public and private institutions whose attention has been called to this
matter of national interest.
Whether in art, literature or philanthropy the pride of a nation is in
the realized ideal. That which must live longest and best serve the race
is the highest ideal, realized. American philanthropy, the realized
ideal obtained through “a movement the most philanthropic of the age and
an intrinsic part of world-civilization,” is the nation’s chiefest moral
asset. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that the
memorial tributes to the Founder and petitions by the people be
heeded,—the schemers discredited officially—that _the record of untruth_
may not stand against this nation through envy of “one of God’s
noblest.”
Justice is the end of government, womanhood the crown of American
civilization,—and the spirit of the woman “whose movement spanned the
globe,” a heritage to this nation priceless. That spirit through wars
and national disasters should be the saving spirit in untold suffering
among “the countless millions and uncounted generations throughout the
civilized world.” “Unfounded charges,” inhumanity’s foul blot, _must be
and will be_ removed from the scroll of The American Red Cross, off the
escutcheon of the American nation—that the name of humanity’s luminary
may shine throughout time as the guiding star in American philanthropy.
LXXXVII
Andersonville[9] was not the gateway of hell; it was hell itself.
CLARA BARTON.
Footnote 9:
Without honoring the request of the Secretary of War, Edwin M.
Stanton, to take an expedition to Andersonville to mark the graves
of the missing soldiers, there could have been no cemetery at
Andersonville. The cemetery which the Government now so worthily
owns is a gift from our active corps of women.—Clara Barton.
He (President Lincoln) said, “I will help you.” He smoothed the way
and made it possible, assisting me until the work was done.
CLARA BARTON.
Only in the Great Book of Life is it written what Clara Barton did for
the homes of this land, after the Civil War was over.
SARAH A. SPENCER.
In a Memorial to U. S. Congress, Clara Barton said that in doing this
work referred to, as per itemized bill, she reported that she had
expended from her private funds as a contribution to the cause
$1,759.33, and further said: “My own time and services have been
cheerfully given.” THE AUTHOR.
I remembered our prisons crowded with starving men whom all the powers
and pities of the world could not reach with a bit of bread. I thought
of the widows’ weeds still fresh and dark through all the land, north
and south, from the pine to the palm, the shadows on the hearths and
hearts over all my country—sore, broken hearts; ruined, desolate
homes. CLARA BARTON.
[Illustration:
DORENCE ATWATER
For the record of your dead you are indebted to the forethought,
courage and perseverance of Dorence Atwater, a young man not
twenty-one years of age.—(Signed) CLARA BARTON, in an official
report to the people of the United States of America, in 1865.
]
[Illustration:
This memorial will stand as a silent reminder of the untiring and
loyal devotion of one whose memory will live while time endures.—IDA
S. MCBRIDE, Chairman Memorial Committee.
DEDICATION OF MEMORIAL TO CLARA BARTON AT ANDERSONVILLE, GEORGIA, MAY
31, 1915
Erected by the Woman’s Relief Corps Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the
Republic.
Left to right: Mrs. Emma E. Grinnell, P. Dept., Pres. Wisc. W. R. C.;
William Grinnell, P. Dept., Com. G. A. R., Wisc; Mrs. Ida S.
McBride, P. Natl. Pres. W. R. C.; Miss Agnes Hitt, P. Natl. Pres.,
W. R. C.; Hon. Washington Gardner, P. Com.-in-Chief, G. A. R.; Mrs.
Mary A. North, P. Natl. Jun. Vice-Pres., W. R. C.
]
The path of this work was opened for her through records kept by
Dorence Atwater, a Connecticut boy-prisoner at Andersonville, who had
been detailed to keep a record for the prison officials of the dead,
and their burial. He kept a secret duplicate record, with location of
graves. He saw a notice asking for information signed “Clara Barton,”
when he at once wrote to her. Together they went to Andersonville and
with his aid she succeeded with the identification of 19,920 graves
and placing headstones above them, while 400 of these were marked
“unknown.”
Manchester (N. H.) _Mirror_.
Yes, give me the land with a grave in each spot,
And the names in the graves that shall not be forgot;
Yes, give me the land of the wreck and the tomb—
There’s grandeur in graves, there’s glory in gloom;
For out of the gloom future brightness is born,
And after the night looms the sunrise of morn;
And the graves of the dead, with the grass overgrown,
May yet form the footstool of liberty’s throne;
And earth’s single wreck in the war path of night
Shall yet be a rock in the temple of right.
FATHER RYAN.
OF GRAVES, OF WORMS, OF EPITAPHS
After the Civil War Clara Barton engaged in a sad mission. Of the
Federal soldiers, there were 80,000 missing. Letters from the sorrowing
were coming to the President and the Secretary of War, for information.
To obtain the names of the missing, how died, where buried, and other
information about loved ones, was a tremendous undertaking,—it was Clara
Barton’s mission. Many of her personal friends said it was impossible,
but President Lincoln gave her encouragement. She also received her
Commission from the President, who had published the following:
TO THE FRIENDS OF THE MISSING PRISONERS:
Miss Clara Barton has kindly offered to search for the missing
prisoners of war. Please address her at Annapolis, Maryland, giving
the name, regiment, and company, of any missing prisoner.
A. LINCOLN.
For four long years she carried in her heart the sorrows of scores of
thousands, in unhappy homes. She took the lecture platform and, in
public halls, churches and school-houses, she said to the people “let’s
talk of graves and worms and epitaphs.”
She had known Sorrow,—he had walked with her,
Oft supped, and broke the bitter ashen crust;
And in the dead leaves still she heard the stir
Of his black mantle trailing in the dust.
Few of the obscure dead had even head-boards at their graves. In the
absence of head-boards, the information was obtained through an
ex-federal prisoner, who had kept the necessary data. Tens of thousands
of letters were exchanged. Through correspondence, private information,
personal contact with friends of the missing, and an inspection in the
cemetery, the remains of 19,920 of the missing were found, the remains
sent home, or the grave marked. The whole expense of this work was about
$17,000, the amount advanced by Miss Barton. Later, the Government
reimbursed her to the extent of $15,000. So stupendous, so
philanthropic, and so successful, was this work that this one mission of
love, of itself, would have given Clara Barton eternal fame.
Sad wistful eyes and broken hearts that beat
For the loved sound of unreturning feet
And when the oaks their banners wave,
Dream of the battle and an unmarked grave!
FRANK L. STANTON.
If all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of
the world in praise of women were applied to the women of America, it
would not do them justice, for their conduct during the war. God bless
the women of America. A. LINCOLN.
I feel how weak and fruitless would be any word of mine which should
attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming; but I
cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in
the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
A. LINCOLN (in his letter to Mrs. Bixby).
Mothers—wives—and maidens, would there were some testimonials grand
enough for you—some tablet that could show to the world the sacrifice
of American womanhood and American motherhood in the Civil War!
Sacrifices so nobly and so firmly—but so gently and so
beautifully,—made. CLARA BARTON.
In the crowded yards of every prison ground, in the dark ravines of
the tangled forests, in the miry, poison swamps, where the slimy
serpent crawls by day and the will-o’-the-wisp dances vigil at night,
in the beds of the mighty rivers, under the waves of the salt sea, in
the drifting sands of the desert islands, on the lonely picket line,
and by the roadside, where the weary soldier laid down with his
knapsack and his gun, and his march of life was ended; there in their
strange beds they sleep till the morning of the great reveille.
CLARA BARTON.