When asked where occurred her bravest act, Clara Barton replied: “At Fredericksburg.” She made headquarters at the Lacy House, just north of the Rappahannock River. While there, the surgeon in charge of the wounded on the south bank of the river sent a special messenger to Miss Barton to come across with her assistants and supplies at once. As a _soldier_ and as an American patriot, she obeyed orders and followed the flag over the bridge and on to the battle field. In later years describing the women who went to the war Clara Barton sings: The women who went to the field, you say, The women who went to the field;—what did they go for—? Did these women quail at the sight of a gun? Will some soldier tell us of one he saw run? In referring to the _incident_, in her experience at Fredericksburg, she said: “As I walked across this bridge with the marching troops, the bullets and shells were hissing and exploding in the river on either side of me, the long autumn march down the mountain passes—Falmouth and old Fredericksburg with its pontoon bridge,—sharp-shooters—deserted camps—its rocky brow of frowning forts—the one day bombardment, and the charge!” There, unperturbed, among the men was Clara Barton, there in the broad glacis, the one vast Aceldama, where— In the lost battle, Borne down by the flying, Were mingled war’s rattle With the groans of the dying. [Illustration: SUSAN B. ANTHONY My dear Clara Barton, you have done some wonderful things in the world.—SUSAN B. ANTHONY, Pioneer Suffrage Leader. Susan B. Anthony was the first woman to lay her hand beside mine in the promotion of the Red Cross Society.—CLARA BARTON. ] REPRESENTATIVE SUFFRAGE LEADERS [Illustration: CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT One of the great women of the world. Broad of vision, exalted of soul and absolutely free from selfishness that binds, Miss Barton was a rare human being.—CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT, President National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1900–1904; 1913——; Ex-President International Woman Suffrage Alliance. ] [Illustration: © _Harris & Ewing_ DR. ANNA HOWARD SHAW Every woman who loves her country will revere the name of Clara Barton.—DR. ANNA HOWARD SHAW, President National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1904–Dec., 1915. ] XVII Clara Barton—soldiers of every battlefield since the Civil War have almost deified her. Mothers, wives, sisters and sweethearts of the conflict have ever since held her name in the highest reverence. Hartford (Conn.) _Post_. The ears of the sick are strangely acute. CLARA BARTON. A light heart lives long. SHAKESPEARE. The burden becomes light that is cheerfully made. OVID.