Chrysti The Wordsmith: Fort - 2

Greetings rep of oars and welcome to Christie the wordsmith. Hold the fort this three word expression is a colorful admonition for someone to sit tight in a situation for a time or until the proper authority arrives. This cliche is a homegrown American ism inspired by an order from Union General William Tecumseh Sherman near the end of the Civil War. The order was received by John M.. Course commander of a military outpost at Alah Toona Georgia on October 5th 1864. Course and his men were besieged by Confederate troops and advised to surrender in order to avoid a needless fusion of blood. But course refused having received a semaphores from Sherman who was stationed on a nearby mountaintop Sherman's message was hold out. Relief is coming. This civil war scenario fired the American imagination less than a decade after Sherman's dramatic order and subsequent rescue of his fellows. Songwriter Phillip Paul bliss

wrote a hymn inspired by the wartime event. One of the songs verses reads hold the fort for I am coming. Jesus signal still wave the answer back to heaven by thy grace we will the hymns popularity's sealed the phrase still used today. Hold the fort. Shorthand for. Take care of the situation until I return or simply watch everything for a while. I'm Christie the wordsmith. Good day word lovers. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.