state of things—Deficiencies in the stores—Miss Nightingale's caravanserai in “The Sisters' Tower”—Her supplies issued only on medical requisition—Delays in obtaining access to Government stores—Miss Nightingale's resourcefulness in obtaining supplies—Her gifts to the French and Sardinian hospitals—Absurdities of the purveying regulations. II. Clothier to the wounded—Cause of the deficiency of shirts: 50,000 issued from Miss Nightingale's stores. III. Builder—Miss Nightingale's preparation of new wards for additional patients from the Crimea. IV. Her shouldering of responsibility—Strictness of her administration—Almoner of the Queen's “Free Gifts”—Rules and exceptions—Value of her initiative—Sidney Herbert's approval—Mr. Kinglake and “the woman's touch”

199   CHAPTER VI THE REFORMER Miss Nightingale as an inspirer of reform—Sources of her influence—Favour of the Court—Letter from Queen Victoria: her gifts to the soldiers. II. Miss Nightingale's reports to Sidney Herbert—Character of her letters. III. Her urgent appeals for stores—Dispatch of an executive Sanitary Commission—Miss Nightingale's reforms in the handling of Government stores—Other reforms due to her. IV. Her suggestion for systematic reorganization—Suggested improvements in the medical service. V. Miss Nightingale's demeanour at Scutari—Description by S. G. O.—Range of her influence—The efficacy of “going to Miss Nightingale” 213   CHAPTER VII THE MINISTERING ANGEL Dual position of Miss Nightingale: administrator and nurse. Prodigious power of work—Her attention to the sick and wounded—Her midnight vigils—The famous lamp—The soldiers kissing her shadow—Idolization by the men. II. Correspondence with relatives and friends of the wounded soldiers. III. Strain upon Miss Nightingale's powers—Burden of correspondence—Her helpers—Mr. and Mrs. Bracebridge. IV. Schemes for helping the soldiers—Mr. Augustus Stafford—The Orderlies and Miss Nightingale 233   CHAPTER VIII THE RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTY Nature of the religious difficulty. Rivalry between the churches—Various claims for “representation” among the nursing staff—“Anti-Puseyite” attacks. II. Miss Nightingale's attitude in the squabble. III. The difficulty increased by the advent of Miss Stanley's party—Charges of proselytism—Lord Panmure's instructions misinterpreted. IV. Aggravation by the religious feuds of the difficulty of obtaining efficient nurses—Worry caused to Miss Nightingale 244   CHAPTER IX TO THE CRIMEA—ILLNESS (May–August 1855) Siege of Sebastopol. The hospitals in the Crimea—Miss Nightingale's authority there not explicitly defined—Her arrival at Balaclava. II. Visit to the front—Sir John McNeill. III. Work in the hospitals—Attacked by “Crimean fever”—Anxiety in England and in the hospitals—Visit from Lord Raglan.
IV. Miss Nightingale advised to return to England—Her refusal—Return to Scutari—Gradual recovery—“The heroic dead” 254   CHAPTER X THE POPULAR HEROINE Sympathy in England caused by Miss Nightingale's illness. The popular heroine: letters from Lady Verney. II. The poetry of Seven Dials, verses, songs, lives, portraits, etc.—Miss Nightingale's view of it all. III. Public memorial to her—The Nightingale Fund—Speeches at the public meeting—Nature of the memorial—Subscriptions from the army—Medical jealousy—Presentation of a jewel by the Queen 264   CHAPTER XI THE SOLDIERS' FRIEND Miss Nightingale's ministrations to the moral welfare of the soldiers—Her belief in the possibility of reforms. II. Her letter to the Queen on drunkenness in the army: considered by the Cabinet—Miss Nightingale's Money Order Office at Scutari—Government offices opened—The “Inkerman Café”—Sir Henry Storks—Miss Nightingale's influence with the soldiers. III. Establishment of reading-rooms and class-rooms 276   CHAPTER XII TO THE CRIMEA AGAIN (September 1855–July 1856) Fall of Sebastopol: Miss Nightingale's second and third visits to the Crimea. Hardships of her work in the Crimea—Her “carriage”—The hospital huts on the heights above Balaclava—Her Extra Diet Kitchens. II. Opposition to her in military and medical quarters—Sir John Hall's opposition—Difficulties with the nuns—Miss Nightingale's authority disputed. III. Her appeals to home for support—Correspondence with Sidney Herbert—Dispatch from the Secretary of State defining her full authority in the Crimea promulgated in General Orders—Exhausting labours in the Crimea: testamentary dispositions. IV. Hard work at Scutari—Letters from the aunt who was with Miss Nightingale—Christmas Day at the British Embassy—Colonel Lefroy 283   CHAPTER XIII END OF THE WAR—RETURN HOME (July–August 1856) The Peace. Return of the nurses—Miss Nightingale's tribute to her “mainstays.” II. The Government's thanks to Miss Nightingale—Gratitude of the soldiers—Offer of a man-of-war