MY WORK IN THE CRIMEA.
I hope the reader will give me credit for the assertion that I am
about to make, viz., that I enter upon the particulars of this chapter
with great reluctance; but I cannot omit them, for the simple reason
that they strengthen my one and only claim to interest the public,
viz., my services to the brave British army in the Crimea. But,
fortunately, I can follow a course which will not only render it
unnecessary for me to sound my own trumpet, but will be more
satisfactory to the reader. I can put on record the written opinions
of those who had ample means of judging and ascertaining how I
fulfilled the great object which I had in view in leaving England for
the Crimea; and before I do so, I must solicit my readers' attention
to the position I held in the camp as doctress, nurse, and "mother."
I have never been long in any place before I have found my practical
experience in the science of medicine useful. Even in London I have
found it of service to others. And in the Crimea, where the doctors
were so overworked, and sickness was so prevalent, I could not be long
idle; for I never forgot that my intention in seeking the army was to
help the kind-hearted doctors, to be useful to whom I have ever looked
upon and still regard as so high a privilege.
But before very long I found myself surrounded with patients of my
own, and this for two simple reasons. In the first place, the men (I
am speaking of the "ranks" now) had a very serious objection to going
into hospital for any but urgent reasons, and the regimental doctors
were rather fond of sending them there; and, in the second place, they
could and did get at my store sick-comforts and nourishing food, which
the heads of the medical staff would sometimes find it difficult to
procure. These reasons, with the additional one that I was very
familiar with the diseases which they suffered most from, and
successful in their treatment (I say this in no spirit of vanity),
were quite sufficient to account for the numbers who came daily to the
British Hotel for medical treatment.
That the officers were glad of me as a doctress and nurse may be
easily understood. When a poor fellow lay sickening in his cheerless
hut and sent down to me, he knew very well that I should not ride up
in answer to his message empty-handed. And although I did not hesitate
to charge him with the value of the necessaries I took him, still he
was thankful enough to be able to _purchase_ them. When we lie ill at
home surrounded with comfort, we never think of feeling any special
gratitude for the sick-room delicacies which we accept as a
consequence of our illness; but the poor officer lying ill and weary
in his crazy hut, dependent for the merest necessaries of existence
upon a clumsy, ignorant soldier-cook, who would almost prefer eating
his meat raw to having the trouble of cooking it (our English soldiers
are bad campaigners), often finds his greatest troubles in the want of
those little delicacies with which a weak stomach must be humoured
into retaining nourishment. How often have I felt sad at the sight of
poor lads, who in England thought attending early parade a hardship,
and felt harassed if their neckcloths set awry, or the natty little
boots would not retain their polish, bearing, and bearing so nobly and
bravely, trials and hardships to which the veteran campaigner
frequently succumbed. Don't you think, reader, if you were lying, with
parched lips and fading appetite, thousands of miles from mother,
wife, or sister, loathing the rough food by your side, and thinking
regretfully of that English home where nothing that could minister to
your great need would be left untried--don't you think that you would
welcome the familiar figure of the stout lady whose bony horse has
just pulled up at the door of your hut, and whose panniers contain
some cooling drink, a little broth, some homely cake, or a dish of
jelly or blanc-mange--don't you think, under such circumstances, that
you would heartily agree with my friend _Punch's_ remark:--
"That berry-brown face, with a kind heart's trace
Impressed on each wrinkle sly,
Was a sight to behold, through the snow-clouds rolled
Across that iron sky."
I tell you, reader, I have seen many a bold fellow's eyes moisten at
such a season, when a woman's voice and a woman's care have brought to
their minds recollections of those happy English homes which some of
them never saw again; but many did, who will remember their
woman-comrade upon the bleak and barren heights before Sebastopol.
Then their calling me "mother" was not, I think, altogether unmeaning.
I used to fancy that there was something homely in the word; and,
reader, you cannot think how dear to them was the smallest thing that
reminded them of home.
Some of my Crimean patients, who were glad of me as nurse and
doctress, bore names familiar to all England, and perhaps, did I ask
them, they would allow me to publish those names. I am proud to think
that a gallant sailor, on whose brave breast the order of Victoria
rests--a more gallant man can never wear it--sent for the doctress
whom he had known in Kingston, when his arm, wounded on the fatal 18th
of June, refused to heal, and I think that the application I
recommended did it good; but I shall let some of my patients' letters,
taken from a large bundle, speak for me. Of course I must suppress
most of their names. Here are two from one of my best and kindest
sons.
"My dear Mamma,--Will you kindly give the bearer the
bottle you promised me when you were here this morning,
for my jaundice. Please let me know how much I am to
take of it. Yours truly,
"F. M., _C. E._"
You see the medicine does him good, for a few days later comes another
from the same writer:--
"My dear Mrs. Seacole,--I have finished the bottle,
which has done my jaundice a deal of good. Will you
kindly send another by bearer. Truly yours,
"F. M."
It was a capital prescription which had done his jaundice good. There
was so great a demand for it, that I kept it mixed in a large pan,
ready to ladle it out to the scores of applicants who came for it.
Sometimes they would send for other and no less important medicines.
Here is such an application from a sick officer:--
"Mrs. Seacole would confer a favour on the writer, who
is very ill, by giving his servant (the bearer) a boiled
or roast fowl; if it be impossible to obtain them, some
chicken broth would be very acceptable.
"I am yours, truly obliged,
"J. K., 18th R. S."
Doesn't that read like a sick man's letter, glad enough to welcome any
woman's face? Here are some gentlemen of the Commissariat anxious to
speak for me:--
"Arthur C----, Comm. Staff Officer, having been attacked
one evening with a very bad diarrhoea at Mrs.
Seacole's, took some of her good medicine. It cured me
before the next morning, and I have never been attacked
since.--October 17th, 1855."
"Archibald R. L----, Comm. Staff, Crimea, was suffering
from diarrhoea for a week or more; after taking Mrs.
Seacole's good medicines for two days, he became quite
well, and remained so to this day.--October 17th, 1855."
Here is Mr. M----, paymaster of the Land Transport Corps, ready with a
good account of my services:--
"I certify that Madame Seacole twice cured me
effectually of dysentery while in the Crimea, and also
my clerk and the men of my corps, to my certain
knowledge."
And some of the men shall speak for themselves:--
"Stationary Engine, December 1, 1855.
"I certify that I was severely attacked by diarrhoea
after landing in the Crimea. I took a great deal of
medicine, but nothing served me until I called on Mrs.
Seacole. She gave me her medicine but once, and I was
cured effectually.
"Wm. Knollys, Sergt., L.T.C."
"This is to certify that Wm. Row, L.T.C, had a severe
attack of illness, and was in a short time restored to
health by the prompt attention and medical skill of Mrs.
Seacole, British Hotel, Spring Hill, Crimea."
Many of my patients belonged to the Land Transport and Army Works
Corps. The former indeed were in my close neighbourhood, and their
hospital was nearly opposite to the British Hotel. I did all I could
for them, and have many letters expressive of their gratitude. From
them I select the following:--
"Head-Quarters, Camp, Crimea, June 30, 1856.
"I have much pleasure in bearing testimony to Mrs.
Seacole's kindness and attention to the sick of the
Railway Labourers' Army Works Corps and Land Transport
Corps during the winters of 1854 and 1855.
"She not only, from the knowledge she had acquired in
the West Indies, was enabled to administer appropriate
remedies for their ailments, but, what was of as much or
more importance, she charitably furnished them with
proper nourishment, which they had no means of obtaining
except in the hospital, and most of that class had an
objection to go into hospital, particularly the railway
labourers and the men of the Army Works Corps.
"John Hall,
"Inspector-General of Hospitals."
I hope that Mr. P----, of the Army Works Corps, will pardon my laying
the following letter before the public:--
"Dear Mrs. Seacole,--It is with feelings of great
pleasure that I hear you are safely arrived in England,
upon which I beg to congratulate you, and return you
many thanks for your kindness whilst in the Crimea.
"The bitter sherry you kindly made up for me was in
truth a great blessing to both myself and my son, and as
I expect to go to Bombay shortly, I would feel grateful
to you if you would favour me with the receipt for
making it, as it appears to be so very grateful a
beverage for weakness and bowel complaints in a warm
climate. With many kind regards, believe me, dear madam,
your obliged servant,
"Samuel P----,
"Late Superintendent Army Works Corps."
Here is a certificate from one of the Army Works' men, to whose case I
devoted no little time and trouble:--
"I certify that I was labouring under a severe attack of
diarrhoea last August, and that I was restored to
health through the instrumentality and kindness of Mrs.
Seacole.
"I also certify that my fingers were severely jammed
whilst at work at Frenchman's Hill, and Mrs. Seacole
cured me after three doctors had fruitlessly attempted
to cure them.
"And I cannot leave the Crimea without testifying to the
kindness and skill of Mrs. Seacole, and may God reward
her for it.
"James Wallen,
"5th Division Army Works Corps."
Here are three more letters--and the last I shall print--from a
sailor, a soldier, and a civilian:--
"This is to certify that Wm. Adams, caulker, of H.M.S.
'Wasp,' and belonging to the Royal Naval Brigade, had a
severe attack of cholera, and was cured in a few hours
by Mrs. Seacole."
"I certify that I was troubled by a severe inflammation
of the chest, caused by exposure in the trenches, for
about four months, and that Mrs. Seacole's medicine
completely cured me in one month, and may God reward
her.
"Charles Flinn, Sergt. 3rd Co. R.S.M."
"Upper Clapton, Middlesex, March 2, 1856.
"Dear Madam,--Having been informed by my son, Mr. Edward
Gill, of St. George's Store, Crimea, of his recent
illness (jaundice), and of your kind attention and
advice to him during that illness, and up to the time he
was, by the blessing of God and your assistance,
restored to health, permit me, on behalf of myself, my
wife, and my family, to return you our most grateful
thanks, trusting you may be spared for many years to
come, in health of body and vigour of mind, to carry out
your benevolent intention. Believe me, my dear madam,
yours most gratefully,
"Edward Gill."
And now that I have made this a chapter of testimonials, I may as
well finish them right off, and have done with them altogether. I
shall trouble the patient reader with four more only, which I have not
the heart to omit.
"Sebastopol, July 1, 1856.
"Mrs. Seacole was with the British army in the Crimea
from February, 1855, to this time. This excellent woman
has frequently exerted herself in the most praiseworthy
manner in attending wounded men, even in positions of
great danger, and in assisting sick soldiers by all
means in her power. In addition, she kept a very good
store, and supplied us with many comforts at a time we
much required them.
"Wm. P----,
"Adjutant-General of the British Army
in the Crimea."
"July 1, 1856.
"I have much pleasure in stating that I am acquainted
with Mrs. Seacole, and from all that I have seen or
heard of her, I believe her to be a useful and good
person, kind and charitable.
"C. A. W----,
"Lt.-Gen. Comm. of Sebastopol."
The third is from the pen of one who at that time was more looked to,
and better known, than any other man in the Crimea. In the 2nd vol. of
Russell's "Letters from the Seat of War," p. 187, is the following
entry:--
"In the hour of their illness these men (Army Works
Corps), in common with many others, have found a kind
and successful physician. Close to the railway,
half-way between the Col de Balaclava and Kadikoi, Mrs.
Seacole, formerly of Kingston and of several other parts
of the world, such as Panama and Chagres, has pitched
her abode--an iron storehouse with wooden sheds and
outlying tributaries--and here she doctors and cures all
manner of men with extraordinary success. She is always
in attendance near the battle-field to aid the wounded,
and has earned many a poor fellow's blessings."
Yes! I cannot--referring to that time--conscientiously charge myself
with doing less for the men who had only thanks to give me, than for
the officers whose gratitude gave me the necessaries of life. I think
I was ever ready to turn from the latter to help the former, humble as
they might be; and they were grateful in their way, and as far as they
could be. They would buy me apples and other fruit at Balaclava, and
leave them at my store. One made me promise, when I returned home, to
send word to his Irish mother, who was to send me a cow in token of
her gratitude for the help I had been to her son. I have a book filled
with hundreds of the names of those who came to me for medicines and
other aids; and never a train of sick or wounded men from the front
passed the British Hotel but its hostess was awaiting them to offer
comforts to the poor fellows, for whose suffering her heart bled.
_Punch_, who allowed my poor name to appear in the pages which had
welcomed Miss Nightingale home--_Punch_, that whimsical mouthpiece of
some of the noblest hearts that ever beat beneath black coats--shall
last of all raise its voice, that never yet pleaded an unworthy cause,
for the Mother Seacole that takes shame to herself for speaking thus
of the poor part she bore of the trials and hardships endured on that
distant shore, where Britain's best and bravest wrung hardly
Sebastopol from the grasp of Britain's foe:--
"No store she set by the epaulette,
Be it worsted or gold lace;
For K. C. B. or plain private Smith,
She had still one pleasant face.
"And not alone was her kindness shown
To the hale and hungry lot
Who drank her grog and ate her prog,
And paid their honest shot.
"The sick and sorry can tell the story
Of her nursing and dosing deeds;
Regimental M.D. never worked as she,
In helping sick men's needs.
"Of such work, God knows, was as much as she chose
That dreary winter-tide,
When Death hung o'er the damp and pestilent camp,
And his scythe swung far and wide.
"She gave her aid to all who prayed,
To hungry and sick and cold;
Open hand and heart, alike ready to part
Kind words and acts, and gold.
* * * * *
"And--be the right man in the right place who can--
The right woman was Dame Seacole."
Reader, now that we have come to the end of this chapter, I can say
what I have been all anxiety to tell you from its beginning. Please
look back to Chapter VIII., and see how hard the right woman had to
struggle to convey herself to the right place.