Clara Barton: Courage under Fire (Heroes of History)

Clara pushed herself to work faster. She had to get the wounded soldiers onto the train before the Confederates came over the hill. A messenger galloped up just as the last man was loaded aboard. "You have to go now!" he shouted. "The enemy is breaking over the hills. If the train is stopped, you will have to escape across country!"

Known during the Civil War as the "Angel of the Battlefield," remarkable Clara Barton risked everything to save countless lives on the front lines of battle. Once a painfully timid child, Clara was as bold as a lion when it came to helping others, whether wayward schoolboys, natural-disaster victims, or dying soldiers.

Clara fought for U.S. approval of the Geneva treaty for the care of war wounded, organized the American Red Cross, and tirelessly dedicated her life to its service. Her courage and compassion impacted thousands of people around the globe -- black and white, Christian and Muslim, Spanish and American, Confederate and Union.