Hold the Fort! The Story of a Song from the Sawdust Trail to the Picket Line
Entry/Object ID
L9999.999.3650
Description
Hold the Fort! The Story of a Song from the Sawdust Trail to the Picket Line. The song "Hold the Fort" grew out of the Civil War Battle of Allatoona on October 5, 1864, the last action in the vicinity of Atlanta. It grew out of a report of one of the messages from Kennesaw Mountain, north of Atlanta, as Confederate forces of Lt. Gen. John B. Hood moved to cut the communications of Major Gen. W.T. Sherman along the line of the Western & Altlantic Railroad at Allatoona Pass, a fortified rail cut.
There were 3 wigwag messages. Two were from Brig. Gen. William Vandever, Sherman's subordinate on October 4. One read "Sherman's is moving in force. Hold out." Another. "General Sherman says hold fast. We are coming." A third, unsigned, read "Tell Allatoona hold on. General Sherman says he is working hard for you.
At a Rockford, Illinois Sunday School Convention on 1870, Maj. Daniel W. Whittel, in a speech, related Sherman's message to be "Hold the Fort; I am coming" and used it as an illustration of Christ's thoughts as commander. Philip Paul Bliss was in the audience and later translated the illustration into the gospel song of modern popularity. The music is included.
57/Softbound/Music.
Lexicon
LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Civil wars, Music, Religion
Search Terms
Hold the Fort Song, Kennesaw Mountain, Allatoona, Sherman, William T., Hood, John B., Civil War Battles, Civil War Songs
