CHAPTER XXXIII.
HOSTILITIES AT TABLE.
Culinary education of the soldier-pupils—Meeting with Miss Nightingale—Reforms in the hospitals—Testimonials—Miss Nightingale’s carriage rescued—That lady’s exertions—Her faith—General Lüders’s visits—Marshal Pelissier—Grand ceremonies—Trip to Yalta—The Alar—A peculiar position—Rescued at last—A pleasant excursion—Prince Woronzoff’s palace—Dinner at sea—Outside the harbour—The banquet—Wanted at head-quarters—A new dish—“The great Macédoine à l’Alexandre II., or the Contrast of Peace and War”—Decorations—Reviews—The festival—Reflections.
AS two or three months had still to elapse before the final evacuation of the Crimea took place, I employed the interval in completing the culinary education of my soldier-pupils, anxious that they might be able to confer the benefit of my instructions upon others, when the remainder of the stoves should be issued either at home or abroad. By the aid of my receipts, which were to be printed upon parchment, framed, and hung up in every barrack kitchen, the cooks could not fail in the proper performance of their duties. I very much regret that, owing to some misunderstanding, one or two regiments did not receive my personal attendance, though I believe they had the stoves. To the colonels of those regiments I beg to offer this as an apology for the apparent neglect, which I assure those gentlemen I can only attribute to some oversight on the part of those I employed to see the stoves shifted from one regiment to the other. It was no easy matter to traverse such an immense space of ground, upon which above forty regiments were encamped; and the difficulty was increased by my having to deal with different persons in each. Although I had several of my own men to go about and assist me, I was the responsible person; and all I have to say is, that from six or seven in the morning till night, their humble servant was on horseback, reviewing his various regiments, which, for a bad cavalier, was a great exertion, especially after so severe an illness. Yet to that exertion I believe I owe my recovery, as it enabled me gradually to get the better of a most violent attack of dysentery, which had at one time reduced me so low, that the following civilian doctors, who were my neighbours at Scutari—viz., Messrs. Burn, Howard, and Fraser—were almost inclined to give me up.
Upon my arrival at Balaklava I met Miss Nightingale, who had left Scutari a few days previous to my departure from that place, in order to take the management of two new hospitals, under the superintendence of Dr. Taylor, my Scutari culinary friend. He told me that, to his sorrow, he had completely failed in the construction of the kitchen in those Crimean hospitals, on account of not being able to obtain the necessary utensils, &c. I immediately proposed to set this to rights for him, as I had to build two new extra-diet kitchens at Miss Nightingale’s request. Dr. Taylor accepted my offer, and in less than a week both kitchens were satisfactorily completed, and they were also in full activity. In the extra-diet kitchens Miss Nightingale’s new stoves were adopted. The establishment called the Left Wing Hospital was in charge of the Sisters of Charity; the other, called the Right Wing, in that of Miss Stuart, a most excellent lady, and although of high family, subordinate to Miss Nightingale. During a period of six months, she rendered the greatest service, by ably assisting that lady in her exertions.
I substituted my caldrons for the old ones in the large hospital kitchens. Slight wooden sheds were built to shelter them; and the establishments, at last complete, formed two of the most elegant, cleanly, and useful hospital kitchens in the camp—burning but little wood, instead of always running short, as was the case when the common caldrons, placed upon two stones in a dark stone building which could never be kept clean, were in use. They met with the approval of both Drs. Hall and Taylor. I explained to these gentlemen, that with those stoves and a few planks, an excellent hospital or camp-kitchen could easily be made, instead of the very inferior ones before in use; and that for an army of a hundred thousand men or more, it would only be necessary to increase the number, as the stoves would never get out of repair, and might easily be carried with the army, either on mules, or by any other conveyance which the Land Transport Corps might adopt.
The two following letters confirm the truth of my assertions. The one is from Miss Nightingale, and the other from Dr. Taylor:—
Scutari Barrack Hospital, July 28th, 1856.
I have great pleasure in bearing my testimony to the very essential usefulness of Monsieur Soyer, who, first in the General Hospitals of Scutari, and afterwards in the Camp Hospitals of the Crimea, both general and regimental, restored order where all was unavoidable confusion, as far as he was individually able,—took the soldiers’ rations and patients’ diets as they were, and converted them into wholesome and agreeable food.
I have tried his stoves in the Crimean hospitals where I have been employed, and found them answer every purpose of economy and efficiency.
Florence Nightingale.