Illustration of the embarkation of the sick at Balaklava Harbour during the Crimean War (1854-1856). The Crimean War is infamous because diseases caused over four times as many deaths as combat, the majority of which were preventable. Florence Nightingale's efforts to improve sanitation in the Scutari military hospital drastically reduced the mortality rate among the sick from 42 to 2 percent. Illustration by William Simpson from 'The Seat of War in the East'. Published by Paul & Dominic Colnaghi & Co in 1855.