In the winter of 1855, 4,077 British soldiers died at Scutari. She also dealt with inadequate supplies, overworked and uncooperative staff, and a death rate of over 40 percent. She encountered the terrible unsanitary conditions, filth, and overcrowding. In October 1854, Nightingale led a group of 38 volunteer nurses to Scutari to improve the dismal conditions at Barrack Hospital. I know that, since I refused him, not one day has passed without my thinking of him, that life is desolate to me to the last degree without his sympathy.'Īccording to the BBC, when news of the treatment of wounded soldiers reached England, public outrage forced Sectary of War Sidney Herbert to seek out Nightingale's help. Nightingale wrote in 1850: 'In my thirty-first year, I can see nothing desirable but death.my present life is suicide.' She remained uncertain if she had made the right decision rejecting Milnes's marriage proposal, writing: 'I know that if I were to see him again, the very thought of doing so quite overcomes me. She went to Rome to recover, where she met Sidney Herbert, a politician and secretary of war. This meeting changed the course of her life. Herbert became a lifelong friend, confidant, and political ally, and she became one of his most trusted advisers.īut it did not put an end to her periods of unhappiness.

According to the New World Encyclopedia, she suffered a mental breakdown in 1847. She struggled under the pressure of her relationship with Milnes and her family's constant disapproval. She struggled for years with her decision to marry or not. Her relationship with Milnes was another source of distress.

Florence nightingale by demi