24 NOTES THAT TAP DEEP EMOTIONS THE STORY OF TAPS
by Jari Villanueva
Of all the military bugle calls, none is so easily recognized or more apt to evoke emotion than “Taps.†The melody is both eloquent and haunting and the history of its origin is interesting and somewhat clouded in controversy and myth.The use of “Taps†is unique to the United States military, as the call is sounded at funerals, wreath-laying ceremonies and memorial services. “Taps†originally began as a signal to extinguish lights. Up until the Civil War, the infantry call for “To Extinguish Lights†was the one set down in Silas Casey’s “Tactics,†which had been borrowed from the French. The music for “Taps†was changed by Union Major General Daniel Butterfield for his brigade in July, 1862. Butterfield was not pleased with the call for “Lights Out,†feeling that it was too formal to signal the day’s end. With the help of brigade bugler, Oliver Willcox Norton, he created “Taps†to honor his men while in camp at Harrison’s Landing, Virginia following the Seven Days’ battles during the Peninsular Campaign
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