Approximately 250 Salvationists--132 men and 109 women--were sent to France. Overseas, The [U.S. branch of the] Salvation Army "maintained 77 motor ambulances, conducted 87 hotels for soldiers and sailors, maintained 199 huts and rest rooms for religious and social gatherings and for dispensing comfort to soldiers and sailors, and distributed 100,000 parcels of food and clothing." (Gavin, Lettie. American Women in World War I: They Also Served. University Press of Colorado, 1997. Page 230.)
Under the call to place "Christ in Deeds" the lads and lassies of the Salvation Army "simply served as their Salvationist sisters [and brothers] at home had served before them: by doing every useful, kindly thing that came to hand. They darned socks, sewed on buttons and chevrons, mended uniforms, wrote letters, extended credit, acted as bankers, did whatever needed to be done. They joked and talked, and mostly they listened. And many times they sobbed quietly as "their boys," wounded, were carried back from the Front, or worse, never returned. The Salvationist women sang a lot, and preached and prayed sometimes, too, although their primary purpose was not to "save souls." They were charged by their commander in "that much greater art, the art of dealing ably with human life in all its varying conditions and phrases." (Gavin, p. 220.)
Luckily for battlefield visitors, the overseas activity of the Salvation Army has been recorded in numerous books and articles, and at various archives and museums maintained by the Salvation Army. One of the better-documented stories (especially with regard to photographs of identified locations) concerns the work of Alice and Violet McAllister, Eva Springer and two others in the village of Neuvilly, about three miles south of the front line at the beginning of the Meuse-Argonne offensive.
"Just before a drive, close to the front, there are always blockades of trucks going either way.
The Salvation Army truck filled with the workers on their way to Neuvilly one dark night was caught in such a blockade... At last the wait grew longer and longer, the mud grew deeper, and the truck was having such a hard time that the little company of travelers decided to abandon it to the side of the road till morning and get out and walk to Neuvilly. There was a field hospital there and they felt sure they could be of use... But when they reached the place, found the hospital, and essayed to go in, the mud was so deep that they were stuck and unable to move forward. Some soldiers had to rescue them and carry them to the hospital on litters.
...There were many shell-shocked boys coming in who needed soothing and comforting, and a woman's hand so near the front was great-fully appreciated.
When at last there was a lull in the stream of wounded men the girls went to find a place to sleep for a little while... The house that had been selected for a Salvation Army canteen was nearly all gone. One end was comparatively intact, with the floor still remaining, and this was to be for the canteen. The rest of the building was a series of shell holes surrounding a cellar from which the floor had been shot away.
Source: The War Romance of the Salvation Army
The women reconnoitered and finally decided to unfold their cots and try to get a wink of sleep down in the cellar...
One hour later, still early in the morning, they were awakened by the arrival of the truck and the thumping of boxes... The girls opened their eyes and looked about them, and there wall around the building were the American soldiers, a head in every shell hole, watching them sleep...
The women did not waste much more time in sleeping. They arose at once and got busy. There were five tables in the canteen above and already from each one there stretched a long line of men waiting silently, patiently... The girls had no more sleep that day, and there was no seclusion to be had anywhere. Everything was shell-riddled.
When night came on the question of beds arose again...
Across the road from the most ruined end of the canteen building stood an old church. All of its north wall was gone save a supporting column in the middle, all the north roof gone. There were holes in all the other walls... It had been used all day for an evacuation hospital.
Source: The War Romance of the Salvation Army
Just over the alter was a wonderful picture of Christ ascending to heaven. It was still uninjured save for a shot through the heart. The military officer stood on the steps of this ruined church, and, looking around in perplexity, remarked: "Well I guess this is the wholest place in town... And this is the most secluded spot here!.
The seclusion was a pillar!...
The boys had built a small bonfire on the stone floor against a piece of one wall that was still standing, and now they sent a deputation to know if the girls would bring their guitars over and have a little music. The boys, of course, had no idea that the girls had not slept for more than twenty-four hours, and the girls never told them...
Beneath the picture of Christ in front of the alter a few men were at work in an improvised office with four candles burning around them. In the rear of the church Lt.-Col. Frederick R. Fitzpatrick of the 110th Ammunition Train [a unit of the 35th Div.] had his office, and there another candle was burning. Some wounded men lay on stretchers in the shadowed northwest corner, and around the little fire the five Salvation Army lassies sat among two hundred soldiers. They sang at first the popular songs that everybody knew... By and by some one called for a hymn, and then other hymns followed... They sang for at least an hour and a half, and then they did not want to stop...Then the young Captain-lassie asked her sister to read the Ninety-first Psalm, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty," and she told them it was a promise for those who trusted in god, and she wished they would think about it while they were going to sleep.
..."To-night has been a family gathering," she went on. "We girls are little sisters to all you big brothers, and we have had a delightful time with just the family, and the evening chapter has been read, and now I think it would not be complete if we did not have the family prayers before we separate and go to sleep."
Down went the heads in response, with reverent mien, and the place was very still while the lassie prayed. Afterward the boys joined their gruff voices, husky now with emotion, into the universal pray with which she closed: "Our Father which are in heaven..."
(Booth, Evangeline and Hill, Grace Livingston. The War Romance of the Salvation Army. J.P. Lippincott Company, 1919. Pp 245-250.)
Lt.-Col. Fitzpatrick wrote a letter to his wife later, saying: "There was the crowed of men, each uncovered, giving absolute undivided attention to the good, brave girls who were not making a meeting of it; it was just a meeting which grew--men who in their minds were back with mother and sister. The girls sang the good old songs, and then one of them offered a short prayer, in which all the men joined in spirit, and as I tip-toed out of the church it seemed to me that the four candles on the alter did not give all the light that was shown on the picture of Christ our Savior. Every man in the building that night was in the very presence of God. It was not a religious meeting; it was a meeting full of religion. And it was a picture that will ever stand fresh in my memory and which will be an inspiration in time of doubt. There was nothing there but the real things, absolutely no sham of any kind. Oh, it was wonderful! I hope you can get just a little idea of what it was. I wish you would keep this letter. I want to be able to read it in future years." (Hill and Livingston, Page 250.)
Research Notes: A few years ago, my wife and I conducted research at the Salvation Army's U.S. headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. We copied sections of Violet Virginia McAllister's 1918 diary, but we did not copy the section that dealt with the Meuse-Argonne offensive. That will have to wait for another trip. I believe that the Salvation Army "attached" its Salvationists to a specific division, but I would be willing to listen to other theories. It appears that the McAllister sisters were attached to the 1st Division. Just before moving to the Meuse-Argonne sector, the sisters were serving in Nonsard, a town captured by the 1st Division in the St. Mihiel Salient.
I do not know the exact date of the "meeting" described, but it must be very late September. The Meuse-Argonne offensive began on 26 September, and the 110th Ammunition Train (Lt.-Col. Fitzpatrick's unit) was part of the 35th Division, which was one of the initial divisions in the offensive. At the outbreak of the offensive, the 1st Division was held in Army reserve. Following extremely heavy casualties in the first phase of the assault, the 35th Division was withdrawn from the front lines on 1 October, and replaced by the 1st Division. Thus, it appears that the events occurred while both units were in the area.
Return to Features Go Directly to Then and Now Photos of Neuvilly.