Hold the Fort!

by Paul J. Scheips

For works with similar titles, see Hold the Fort.

Cover: Signal Corpsman sends message from Kennesaw Mountain, 5 October 1864, as General Sherman points to beleaguered Allatoona in the distance. (Library of Congress photo of color illustration by H. A. Ogden in Benson J. Lossing, History of the Civil War, 1912.)

SMITHSONIAN STUDIES IN HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY • NUMBER 9

 

THE STORY OF A SONG FROM THE SAWDUST TRAIL
TO THE PICKET LINE

by
Paul J. Scheips

 

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION PRESS
City of Washington
1971

THE STORY OF A SONG FROM THE SAWDUST TRAIL
TO THE PICKET LINE

For a hundred years hearts have quickened to the martial strains and words of "Hold the Fort." As a gospel song it has sent sinners down the sawdust trail to redemption in many a revival meeting, and in other guises it has stirred Republican voters, Populists, Prohibitionists, Suffragettes, workers, and Ghanaian nationalists. It is as a labor union song, however, that its popularity has rivaled that of its gospel beginnings, for it has inspired countless workers to face down boss and deputy sheriff alike with courage and religious fervor.

The Author: Paul J. Scheips is a historian in the Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army, where he has been devoting much of his time to the history of the United States Army's role in civil disturbances. From 1952 to 1962 he was a historian in the United States Army Signal Corps Historical Division, and it was there he became interested in "Hold the Fort."

Sections (split into subpages)

• Preface
• The Talking Flag of Kennesaw
• The Sawdust Trail: Beginnings in Winnebago County
• Six Acres of Irishmen
• In the Athens of America
• Hold the Fort Until November
• Grog, Sex, and the People's Party
• Look My People, Folk of Ghana
• Union Hall and Picket Line
• Notes

SERIAL PUBLICATIONS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

The emphasis upon publications as a means of diffusing knowledge was expressed by the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In his formal plan for the Institution, Joseph Henry articulated a program that included the following statement: "It is proposed to publish a series of reports, giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge." This keynote of basic research has been adhered to over the years in the issuance of thousands of titles in serial publications under the Smithsonian imprint, commencing with Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge in 1848 and continuing with the following active series:

• Smithsonian Annals of Flight
• Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology
• Smithsonian Contributions to Astrophysics
• Smithsonian Contributions to Botany
• Smithsonian Contributions to the Earth Sciences
• Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology
• Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology
• Smithsonian Studies in History and Technology

In these series, the Institution publishes original articles and monographs dealing with the research and collections of its several museums and offices and of professional colleagues at other institutions of learning. These papers report newly acquired facts, synoptic interpretations of data, or original theory in specialized fields. These publications are distributed by mailing lists to libraries, laboratories, and other interested institutions and specialists throughout the world. Individual copies may be obtained from the Smithsonian Institution Press as long as stocks are available.

S. Dillon Ripley
Secretary
Smithsonian Institution

 

Official publication date is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded in the Institution's annual report, Smithsonian Year.

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1971

---

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $1.25 cents (paper cover)