Rousing arrangement of Hold the Fort, perfect for
prelude, offertory, or other special service music
“Hold the Fort!” was inspired by an incident from
the Civil War—one Bliss heard about from his friend
Daniel Whittle, a major in the war. Whittle was in
Bartow County, Georgia, for the Battle of Allatoona
Pass. October 4, 1864, the day before the conflict,
Whittle and his company were guarding the garrison at
Allatoona, waiting for General William Tecumseh Sherman
and additional ...(+)
Rousing arrangement of Hold the Fort, perfect for
prelude, offertory, or other special service music
“Hold the Fort!” was inspired by an incident from
the Civil War—one Bliss heard about from his friend
Daniel Whittle, a major in the war. Whittle was in
Bartow County, Georgia, for the Battle of Allatoona
Pass. October 4, 1864, the day before the conflict,
Whittle and his company were guarding the garrison at
Allatoona, waiting for General William Tecumseh Sherman
and additional troops. The general had not yet
arrived, but he sent messengers to the garrison to tell
the soldiers, as Whittle reported it, “Hold the fort,
for I am coming!” Bliss saw the spiritual
application easily—stay faithful to Christ, for He is
coming—and he wrote a hymn based off the incident.
Before he died in 1876, he and Whittle got to travel to
the site of the battle and see the area where the hymn
was inspired. Sherman later recounted that while he
didn’t actually say “Hold the Fort!” (his actual
words were “Hold Fast. We are coming!”), that’s
what he meant—and that is the quotation that has
become so famous today.
PARTITION