The Civil War was the bloodiest conflict in American history, and although many were uncomfortable with the idea of women interacting with soldiers, there simply weren''t enough male doctors to meet the needs of the wounded. Women in both the Union and the Confederacy helped fill that need, and in the doing so, changed the course of American medical history. This book tells the story of many of these brave women, including Dorothea Dix, an advocate for the mentally ill and the superintendent of army nurses for the Union, and Clara Barton, a self-taught nurse who founded the Red Cross.