Clara Barton and the Red Cross

Clara Barton was born on December 25, 1821 in North Oxford Massachusetts, she was the youngest daughter of Stephen Barton and Sarah Stone. Clara had two older brothers and two older sisters, through which most of her education came from, by age 11 her gift of nursing had been noticed when she nursed her brother David back to health from an illness. Clara was very smart by age 17, she had become a techer at a school in Massachusetts. After being a teacher Clara moved to Washington were she became the first woman to work at a patent office. When the Civil War started Clara wanted to help the soldiers in the front lines, so she did not accept a salary from the treasury. Never before had a woman been allowed in hospitals or with the soldiers in camps, but she made the officials trust her as a result supplies were given to her to help aid the wounded of the war. Clara became known as the "Angel of the Battlefield" Even during battles Clara would go and help wounded soldiers, she even brought the surgeons bandages and medicine to help the soldiers, many people were grateful to her. Injured soldiers were especially grateful for her help at the Antietam Battlefield, in which she brought supplies to the army who had none because of delays.
After the Civil War was over Clara went to Europe to help in relief efforts during the Franco-Prussian War, here she caught wind of the Red Cross which was an organization which helped with relief efforts for disasters and wars, when she returned home to the states she organized and founded the American Red Cross, she was the perator of this until she died on April 12, 1912. Clearly Clara Barton was a magnificient woman that helped others and did the right thing.

Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme was the bloodiest battle of World War I, it began on July 1, 1916, eight days before the battle the allied forces started an artilllery bombardment, the purpose of the bombardment was to kill the Germans that were there and to destroy the barbed wire the Germans had set up. Unfortunately the bombardment failed, it did not destroy the barbed wire, instead it made it even more tangled and as for the German soldiers they were untouched as a result of hiding in dug-outs that were 9 metres deep in the ground. The allied forces were not prepared for what followed after the bombardment, they thought the bombardment was a sucess so they ordered their men to walk in straight lines across to the enemies side, the Germans simply poped up and slaughtered them.

The battle of the Somme was a horrific battle it was a 6 month battle that had more than 1,000,000 men dead so a 5 mile territory could be gained. The first day of the battle was one of the bloddiest days for the British, they had 57,4970 casualties, out of these 19,240 were killed or died of wounds. In the battle of the Somme the Tanks were introduced to the field of battle by the allied forces, they were used to get through the barbed wire and to move over the trenches that were set up by the Germans. The allied forces started with 50 tanks, but do to mechanical failures the number of tanks used dropped to 24, the tanks surprised the Germans on the battle field, but because the tanks were new they were unreliable. The British unit that suffered most of the British casualties was the Newfoundland Regiment, the entire regiment was virtually annihilataed. The battle of the Somme finnaly ended on November 1916, this battle was the bloodiest battle of the Somme and is a horrific event especially since so many died.

First history post

Theodore Roosevelt was a great President, he was born on Oct. 27, 1858 to his lovely parents Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and Martha Roosevelt. Theodore through his child hood suffered from asthma as a result he spent most times indoors through which he developed a love for reading and writing and he also loved being outside and collecting specimens to examen and to stuff. Roosevelt came from a very prestige family in New York City and had many connections in society as a result, this led to Roosevelt getting recognition in the political world.

Theodore Roosevelt gained most of his fame during the Spanish American War, at this time he was the Secretary of the Navy under the presidency of Mckinley. When Spain declared war on the United States on April 24, 1898 Roosevelt resigned from his position to join in the war. As a result of the war a voluntary regiment was made and was lead by Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt, because of lack of military experience Roosevely asked if Wood be given command of the regiment and so Wood was made colonel and Theodore became lieutenant colonel. The volunteer group Wood and Roosevelt put together became known as the First United States Volunteer Cavalry also known as the Rough Riders, the regiment consisted of more than 1,250 men. Roosevelts men had the highest casualty rate then any other regiment. During the night before the battle of San Juan Hill both Wood and Roosevelt were promoted on the field of battle, and so Roosevelt was given control of the Rough Riders. The next day Roosevelt and his regiment ran up Kettle Hill it was a bloody day, but it ended in success, from kettle Hill they marched down to San Juan Hill and helped in the capture of it. Roosevelt gained great recognition in his success at both San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill and helped him get far in his political carreer.
Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest president at 43 after the assasisnataion of President Mckinley he made many changes and was well known for his foriegn policies, one of his greatest sayings was "speak softly and carry a big stick" Roosevelt had many great accomplishments including being the first in an airplane, the first down in a submarine and he won the Nobel Peace prize for his intervention in the Russo-Japanese War and he is very well known for his completion of the Panama Canal. Theodore was one of the greatest presidents of the United States and his memory will live on. Theodore died Jan. 6, 1919.