*The History Of
"TAPS"
*The History Of
"TAPS"
On this night Butterfield felt that this bugle call was not as smooth, melodious, and musical as it should be. He felt that the day's final call should bring comfort and peace to tired troubled men. With the help of his bugler, Oliver W. Norton, Butterfield composed the music to what we know today as TAPS.
Later in the Peninsular Campaign a funeral was being held during a lull in the fighting. The bugler was ordered to play TAPS in place of the three volleys usually used to render the final honors to a deceased comrade. This was done because it was feared that rifle fire might cause the enemy to renew their attack. The playing of TAPS was eventually written into Army regulations as a part of the honors to be paid at a military funeral.
This music is the haunting melody we now know as "Taps" that is used at all military funerals.
Unknown to most people, here are the words to"TAPS"
*:
Day is done, Fading light,
Thanks and praise,
Gone the sun,
From the lakes,
From the hills,
From the sky.
All is well.
Safely rest.
God is nigh.
Dims the sight,
And a star,
Gems the sky,
Gleaming bright,
From afar,
Drawing nigh,
Falls the night.
For our days,
Neath the sun,
Neath the stars,
Neath the sky,
As we go,
This we know,
God is nigh.
It all began in 1862 during the Civil War, when Union
Army Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his men near
Harrison's Landing in Virginia. The Confederate Army
was on the other side of the narrow strip of land.
During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard
the moan of a soldier who lay mortally wounded on the
field. Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate
soldier, the captain decided to risk his life and bring the stricken man back for medical attention. Crawling
on his stomach through the gunfire, the captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his
encampment. When the captain finally reached his own
lines, he discovered it was actually a Confederate
soldier, but the soldier was dead.
The captain lit a lantern. Suddenly, he
caught his breath and went numb with shock. In the dim
light, he saw the face of the soldier. The following morning, heartbroken, the
father asked permission of his superiors to give his
son a full military burial despite his enemy status.
His request was partially granted. The
captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band
members play a funeral dirge for the son at the
funeral. That request was turned down since the soldier
was a Confederate. Out of respect for the father, they
did say they could give him only one musician.
The captain chose a bugler. He asked the
bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found
on a piece of paper in the pocket of his dead son's
uniform.
This wish was granted.
BELOW IS A POPULAR VERSION OF HOW TAPS BEGAN. IT IS NOT TRUE, IT IS MERELY AN URBAN LEGEND:
It was his
own son.
The boy had been studying music in the
South when the war broke out. Without telling his
father, he enlisted in the Confederate Army.
"Thanks Marie for the rest of the words"
