Column: The Story of Taps
The first time I had ever heard "Taps" played in person, I was visiting Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA, just outside of Washington, D.C. A Navy funeral was concluding and bugler "Taps" signaled the sailor's final farewell.
Years later, I heard the somber melody in person again at my father's funeral. Dad was a U.S. Air Force veteran, and we had arranged for the Oregon Honor Guard to give him a proper good-bye. This included "Taps" from the bugler and three-volley salute.
It was the right way to show Dad that his service to the nation and the sacrifices he had made for his family were honored.
What I didn't know at the time was why "Taps" is traditionally played at the funerals of active military, veterans, law enforcement officers and firefighters.
The inquirer within me wanted to know.
Rifle firing had long been the traditional method of saying good-bye to a fallen warrior.
That began to change, though, during the American Civil War.
Following the Seven Days Battles near Richmond, VA, in July 1862, Union Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield sat down in camp at Harrison's Landing one evening to rework an existing bugle call into something that would better honor the soldiers of his brigade.
With the help of his bugler, Pvt. Oliver Wilcox Norton, Butterfield managed to rearrange some of the notes of the existing tattoo call into a pleasant, sleepy melody that today is played as "Taps."
"The call of Taps did not seem to be as smooth, melodious and musical as it should be," Butterfield later recalled, "and I called in some one who could write music, and practiced a change in the call of Taps until I had it suit my ear." (USAF MSG Jari A. Villanueva, Association of the United States Army)
In fact, Butterfield had Wilcox play the harmonious 24 notes one night in place of the standard "Lights Out" bugle call and three-drum taps that signaled reverie.
The new "Extinguish Lights" bugle call caught on quickly with other Union outfits and even with the opposing Confederate Army.
Not long afterward, during the same Peninsular Campaign commanded by Gen. George B. McClellan, a Union artillery cannoneer had been killed in action.
Regulations called for a traditional three volleys of gunfire be sounded at a soldier's grave. However, with the Confederate enemy so close by, Artillery Cpt. John C. Tidball ordered "Extinguish Lights" played in place of the rifle volleys.
Cpt. Tidball had feared the volleys would spook the enemy into action, so the new "Taps" melody was played by the company bugler instead.
From that point on, "Taps" at graveside funerals would become customary for the Army and later, all branches of military service as well as for law enforcement officers and firefighters.
As soldiers often did, lyrics were put to the music of "Extinguish Lights" with the words "Go to sleep, Go to sleep."
Many more words would be added over the years to endear "Taps" as a song that has been woven into the very fabric of American culture.
"Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.
"Go to sleep, peaceful sleep,
May the soldier or sailor,
God keep.
On the land or the deep,
Safe in sleep.
"Love, good night, Must thou go,
When the day, And the night
Need thee so?
All is well. Speedeth all
To their rest.
"Fades the light; And afar
Goeth day, And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well; Day has gone,
Night is on.
"Thanks and praise, For our days,
'Neath the sun, Neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we go, This we know,
God is nigh."
(Excerpted from MSG Jari A. Villanueva, USAF Band, Association of the United States Army)
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