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Haunting bugle call dates to Civil War

“Taps” is the famous, haunting bugle call that we have come to recognize as the sound of honor, dignity, and respect when saying farewell to those that served in the military. It is a tune that consists of only 24 notes; a tune that dates back to the Civil War.

You may have heard this story of its origin. In 1862, the Union and Confederate Armies of the Civil War were engaged near Harrison’s Landing in Virginia. During the night, Union Army Captain Robert Elliscombe heard the moaning of a wounded soldier on the battlefield. Not knowing whether the soldier was one of his own or a confederate, he risked his own life to rescue him. He crawled out to him and dragged him back to the Union camp where he discovered the soldier was a Confederate and had died. A closer look with the light of a lantern revealed that it was his own son who had been studying music in the South when the war broke out. Unknown to the captain, he had obviously enlisted in the Confederate Army.

Heartbroken and wanting to honor his son, Captain Elliscombe asked his superiors for permission to give his son a full military burial complete with music. Because his son was a Confederate soldier, his request was denied. Out of respect for the captain his superiors allowed him one musician to play for the burial. The captain chose a bugler and asked him to play a series of notes that he had found written on a piece of paper in the pocket of his son’s uniform. The tune was the melody we know as “Taps.” Although this is a beautiful and touching story of a father’s love for his son, it is only a myth. There is no evidence Elliscombe or his son existed. The only truth to this story is the date and place of its origin.

The origin of Taps was extensively researched by Master Bugler Jari Villanueva. Jari retired from the USAF after playing Taps at Arlington National Cemetery with the USAF Band for 23 years. He was the curator of the Taps Exhibit there, as well as a Civil War re-enactor and historian. He traced the myth to a story on Robert Ripley’s “Believe It or Not” television program. Jari was able to verify the following true story of the bugle call’s origin.

In July of 1862 near Harrison’s Landing in Virginia, General Daniel Butterfield called for his bugler, Private Oliver Wilcox Norton. The bugle call to signal lights out, “Extinguish Lights,” had been borrowed from the French. Butterfield thought it sounded too formal to end the day and wanted to replace it. He asked Norton to play some notes that he had written down on an envelope. The notes were from an old bugle call no longer in use. While retaining the melody, Butterfield lengthened and shortened some of the notes, with Norton playing each revision. After they had created a new version that was satisfactory to Butterfield, he ordered Norton to substitute this bugle call for the regulation call. The next day buglers from surrounding Union camps who had heard the melody on that clear night asked Norton for copies. Gradually, its use was authorized by other commanding officers, and “Taps” as we know it today spread throughout the U.S. Military. It is played every evening at Arlington National Cemetery.

Taps was first played for a Union soldier’s funeral in 1862 when Captain John C. Tidball substituted the bugle call for the customary gravesite 3-shot rifle volley. The three volleys had originated from the custom of halting the fighting to remove the dead from the battlefield. Each army would fire three volleys after it had removed its dead to signal they were ready to resume the fight. Due to the proximity of the enemy, Tidball was afraid firing the gravesite volleys would signal an attack was imminent. Thus, the substitution originated the practice of playing Taps for military funerals.

Taps is a not a song, but rather a bugle call to signal soldiers to turn out the lights and go to sleep. There are no official lyrics, but a variety of lyrics have been written to the notes. One popular version we often hear is “Day is done, gone the sun, from the lakes, from the hills, from the sky… all is well, safely rest, God is nigh.”

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