Civil War - 1866 International Committee on Relief on the Battlefields
This EXTREMELY RARE pamphlet of the 1866 International Committee on Relief on the Battlefields by the American Association for Relief of Misery of Battlefields is the first time that the United States was included in this new committee that was formed in 1864 as the Geneva Convention of 1864. This committee, inspired by the work of Henry Dunant after the suffering and pain he saw at the Battle of Solferino and his formation of the Red Cross in Europe, became the Geneva Convention that is still in effect today.
In 1864, when this committee was first formed, the United States was in the middle of the Civil War and did not participate in this important convention that elaborated, and began to solidify, the idea that the wounded and medical workers were to be considered neutral participants during wars.Charles Bowles and other members of the newly created American Sanitary Commission, a volunteer organization created out of the many women's groups on both sides that worked to aid the soldiers, created the American Association for the Relief of Misery on the Battlefield in 1866 that then went to the committee meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
The American participants in 1866 included several important people that included one future President of the United States.
These pamphlets were only handed out to the participants so the one I have posted for sale today is an EXTREMELY RARE and a one of a kind piece of our history that was important in the formation of the American Red Cross.
Offered with FREE DOMESTIC SHIPPING. International buyers please use the shipping feature in your shopping cart and pay through PayPal if you would like next day shipping.