What Mary Seacole did
Why did men call her Mother Seacole?
Mary Seacole cooked food the soldiers liked, such as stew and rice pudding. She nursed sick soldiers so kindly they called her 'Mother Seacole'.
Visitors coming to see the battlefields came to visit the hotel. One visitor was the famous French chef, Alexis Soyer. He was helping Florence Nightingale. Now he told everyone about the good work 'Mother Seacole' was doing.
On the battlefield
Mary rode out on horseback, close to the fighting. She saw cannon balls whizz past! She was very brave. She watched the battle for the Russian town of Sebastopol. She was one of the first woman into the town, after British and French soldiers captured it.
The war ends
Peace came in 1856. The soldiers went home. Mary closed her hotel and store. She went back to Britain with very little money.
In London, soldiers wrote letters to newspapers, praising what Mary had done in the Crimea. The war reporter William Howard Russell wrote about her too. And there was a poem about her!
Mary's book
Mary wrote a book about her life. It was called Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands. She was now famous. People came to concerts to raise money for her. She was awarded a medal by Turkey for her bravery. Mary Seacole was also awarded a medal by Jamaica in 1990