Day and night she thinks of her
beloved troops; so does the prince.' With her own hands she made
comforters, mittens, and other articles of clothing, for distribution
among the soldiers, and she wrote to Lord Raglan that she 'had heard that
their coffee was given to them green, instead of roasted, and some other
things of this kind, which had distressed her, and she besought that they
should be made as comfortable as circumstances can admit.'
The little princes and princesses contributed their childish but very
pretty drawings to an exhibition which was opened for the benefit of the
soldiers' widows and children. As the disabled soldiers returned to this
country, the Queen and the prince took the earliest opportunity of
ascertaining by personal observation in what condition they were, and how
they were cared for. And when the war was over, Miss Florence Nightingale,
the soldier's nurse and friend, was an honoured guest in the royal family,
'putting before us,' writes the prince, 'all the defects of our present
military hospital system, and the reforms that are needed.' On 5th March
1855, the Queen wrote to Lord Panmure suggesting the necessity of
hospitals for sick and wounded soldiers, which eventually took shape in
the great military hospital at Netley.
[Illustration: Victoria Cross.]
Victoria Crosses were distributed by the Queen in Hyde Park, 26th June
1857, to those soldiers who had performed special acts of bravery in
presence of the enemy.
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