Transcriber's Notes Certain typographical features of the original cannot be reproduced Illustrations cannot be reproduced in this version of the text. They are indicated in the text, in their approximate positions, as: [Illustration: <caption>]. Autograph letters, signatures, and similar documents which were presented as images in the original, but have been transcribed here, in lieu of captions. Italic fonts are rendered using delimiting underscores, as _italic_. The 'oe' ligature is spelled with separate characters. Words in all small capital letters, including those which employ mixed case, are shifted to uppercase. Footnotes, which appeared at the bottom of the page, are positioned at logical breaks following their references. They have been assigned unique letters, beginning with 'A', and appear as: [A] Text of footnote. The lists of Illustrations and Contents have several anomalous, though accurate, entries. For example, the section on the re-incorporation of the Red Cross, beginning on page 94, appears in the Contents between sections on p. 184 and p. 197, for no apparent reason. The reference has been placed in its proper position in the Contents. Please note that the entries in the Contents do not always refer to formal sections of the text. They sometimes direct one to a change of topic otherwise unmarked in the text itself. Several of the photographs associated with the Spanish American War, which were included at the end of the volume on pp. 675 and 676, are listed in the Illustrations where their subjects would appear. The opening of the section on General History is labeled "Chapter I", the only use of that designation in the volume. [Frontispiece: CLARA BARTON. _From a portrait taken about 1875._] THE RED CROSS IN PEACE AND WAR [Illustration] BY CLARA BARTON AMERICAN HISTORICAL PRESS 1906 Copyright 1898, by CLARA BARTON From the President of the United States In his Message to Congress December 6, 1898.