In Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1876, a train went off the tracks and over the bridge, and many people were killed. One of those who died was Reverend P. P. Bliss, a hymn writer and great evangelist. One of his most famous hymns was “Hold the Fort.” It was written after the occasion when Atlanta had been besieged and General Hood, for the Southern armies, came up and tried to draw away Sherman’s army.
Hood wasn’t successful, but he did have a couple of victories. One of them was at Alatoona Pass, where he attacked. At that point Sherman was on Kennesaw Mountain, a distance away. He looked down and could see that they were losing it. So Sherman heliographed to his beleaguered troops, “Hold the fort, I am coming.”
Major Whittle, a member of Sherman’s army, later recounted the tale to Bliss, who used it as the inspiration for his famous hymn:
‘Hold the fort, for I am coming,’
Jesus signals still.
Wave the answer back to heaven,
‘By thy grace we will.’