The
Story of "Taps"
No bugle call
is so easily recognized or more apt to stir emotion than the call Taps.
With its eloquent and haunting melody, the history of its origin is interesting
and somewhat clouded in controversy.
Origins
Although Taps
is generally attributed to General Daniel Butterfield (1831-1901), Butterfield
did not compose Taps, but rather revised an earlier bugle call. By Butterfield's
own account, Taps was a modified version of the call Tattoo. As a signal
for end of the day, armies used Tattoo to signal troops to return to their
garrisons and prepare them for bedtime roll call. It was sounded an hour
before the final call of the day to extinguish all fires and lights.
Butterfield
wrote, "I could not write a note of music...", but "practiced
a change in the call of Taps until I had it suit my ear."
Association
with funerals
The first
use of Taps at a funeral was during the Peninsular Campaign of the Civil
War, July 1862. A soldier of Captain John C. Tidball's Battery - A cannoneer
of the 2nd Artillery - was buried at a time when the battery occupied
an advanced position concealed in the woods. It was unsafe to fire the
customary three volleys over the grave due to the proximity of the enemy,
and it occurred to Captain Tidball that the sounding of Taps would be
the most ceremony that could be substituted. The custom was taken up throughout
the Army of the Potomac, and finally confirmed by orders.
The stirring
melody of "Taps" that is now used at all military funerals.
It should
be noted that there are other fanciful stories
about the origin of Taps. Typically, they are highly romantic and not
based on facts.
The
Words
The words
to Taps were originally "Go To Sleep, Go to Sleep." With time many more
versions were created. This is the most popular version:
"Day
is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh."
"Although
Butterfield merely revised an earlier bugle call, his role in producing
those 24 notes gives him a place in the history of music as well as the
history of war" - Jari A. Villanueva, USAF.
Information
courtesy of: http://www.west-point.org
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