Taps

Information about Taps

This article is about the musical piece. For other uses, see Taps (disambiguation).

Taps ("Butterfield's Lullaby"), sometimes known by the lyrics of its second verse, "Day is Done," is a famous musical piece, played in the U.S. military during flag ceremonies and funerals, generally on bugle or trumpet. The tune is also used at night to signal "lights out."

Taps

The bugle call was composed by the Union Army Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield, an American Civil War general who commanded the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division in the V Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Butterfield wrote the tune at Harrison's Landing, Virginia, in July 1862. Taps also replaced "Tattoo", the French bugle call to signal "lights out." Butterfield's bugler, Oliver W. Norton, of Chicago, was the first to sound the new call. Within months, Taps was used by both Union and Confederate forces. Villanueva (see external link "Detailed History of Taps" below) states that the tune is actually a variation of an earlier bugle call known as the Scott Tattoo which was used in the U.S. from 1835 until 1860.

A bugler plays Taps during the funeral of Caspar W. Weinberger in Arlington National Cemetery

Taps concludes many military funerals conducted with honors at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as hundreds of others around the United States. The tune is also played at many memorial services in Arlington's Memorial Amphitheater and at gravesites throughout the cemetery.

Taps is sounded during each of the 2,500 military wreath ceremonies conducted at the Tomb of the Unknowns every year, including the ones held on Memorial Day. The ceremonies are viewed by many people, including veterans, school groups, and foreign officials. Taps is also played nightly at 11 PM (2300 hrs) in military installations at non-deployed locations to indicate that it is "lights out." When Taps is played, it is customary to salute if in uniform, or to place the right hand over the heart if out of uniform.

Lyrics

While there are no official lyrics, and the original version was purely instrumental, there have been several later lyrics added. The most common form is shown below:

Fading light dims the sight
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright
From afar drawing nigh,
Falls the night.

Day is done, gone the sun
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky
All is well, safely rest;
God is nigh.

Then goodnight, peaceful night;
Till the light of the dawn shineth bright.
God is near, do not fear,
Friend, goodnight.

The other popular version, penned and harmonized by famed composer Josef Pasternack, is:

Love, sweet dreams!
Lo, the beams of the light Fairy moon kissed the streams,
Love, Goodnight!
Ah so soon!
Peaceful dreams!

Music

The melody of "Taps" is composed entirely from the written notes of the C Major triad (i.e. C, E, and G). This makes it appropriate for playing on the bugle.

The dual connection of "Taps" with death and with extinguishing lights is reinforced by the modern expression, "lights out," often used as a slang expression for actual death, or more often for symbolic "death," such as a sports team's loss in a game or tournament.

Legends

There are several urban legends concerning the origin of Taps. The most widely circulated one states that a Union Army infantry officer, whose name is often given as Captain Robert Ellicombe, first ordered the Taps performed at the funeral of his son, a Confederate soldier killed during the Peninsula Campaign. This apocryphal^[1]^[2]^[3] story claims that Ellicombe found the tune in the pocket of his son's clothing and performed it to honor his memory. But there is no record of any man named Robert Ellicombe holding a commission as captain in the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign.^[4]

That Daniel Butterfield composed Taps has been sworn to by numerous reputable witnesses including Oliver Norton,^[5] the bugler who first performed the tune. While scholars continue to debate whether or not the tune was original or based on an earlier melody, few researchers doubt that Butterfield is responsible for the current tune.

Another, perhaps more historically verifiable, account involves John C. Tidball, a Union artillery captain who during a break in fighting ordered the tune played for a deceased soldier in lieu of the more traditional–and much less discreet–three volley tribute. Army Col. James A. Moss, in an Officer's Manual initially published in 1911, reports the following:

"During the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, a soldier of Tidball's Battery A 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, on account of the proximity of the enemy, and it occurred to Capt. Tidball that the sounding of Taps would be the most appropriate ceremony that could be substituted."

While not necessarily addressing the origin of the Taps itself, this does represent a milestone as the first recorded instance of Taps being used in the context of a military funeral. Until then, while the tune had meant that the soldiers' day of work was finished, it had little to none of the connotation or overtone of death with which it is so often associated today.

Media

Taps

Problems listening to the file? See media help

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ [4]
5. ^ [5]

External links

Taps is a famous musical piece, played in the U.S. military during flag ceremonies and funerals.

Taps may also refer to:

Taps (film), a 1981 film starring Timothy Hutton
Taps (2006 film), a 2006 short film starring Ben Kurland

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United States Armed Forces is the military service of the United States and is structured into five branches.

U.S. Army
U.S. Marine Corps
U.S. Navy
U.S. Air Force
U.S.

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military funeral is a funeral given by a country's military for a veteran, a soldier who died in battle, or another prominent military figure. When heads of state die, they often receive military funerals.
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The bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments; it is essentially a small natural horn with no valves. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure, since the bugle has no other mechanism for controlling pitch.
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trumpet is a musical instrument in the brass family. The trumpet has the highest register in the brass section; a standard B flat trumpet has a range comparable to the B flat cornet, a piccolo trumpet is an octave higher.
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A bugle call is a short tune, originating as a military signal announcing scheduled and certain non-scheduled events on a military installation, battlefield, or ship. A defining feature of a bugle call is that it consists only of notes from a single overtone series.
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Musical composition is a phrase used in a number of contexts, the most commonly used being a piece of music. It is also used, however, to refer the structure of a musical piece and to the process of creating or orchestrating a new piece of music.
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Union was a name used to refer to the United States, the twenty-three Northern states that were not part of the seceding Confederacy.

Overview

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An army (from Latin armata "act of arming" via Old French armÃ©e), in the broadest sense, is the land-based armed forces of a nation. It may also include other branches of the military such as an air force.
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Brigadier General is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually just above colonel and just below major general.

Brigadier general can trace its origins to the militaries of Europe where a brigadier general, or simply a brigadier, would command a brigade
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Daniel Adams Butterfield (October 31, 1831 – July 17, 1901) was a New York businessman, a Union general in the American Civil War, and Assistant U.S. Treasurer in New York.
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American Civil War (1861–1865) was a major war between the United States (the "Union") and eleven Southern slave states which declared that they had a right to secession and formed the Confederate States of America, led by President Jefferson Davis.
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V Corps (Fifth Corps) was a unit of the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.

1862

The corps was first organized briefly under Nathaniel P. Banks, but then permanently on May 18, 1862, designated as the "V Corps Provisional".
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Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.

History

The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was only the size of a corps (relative to the size of Union armies later in the war).
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Nearest city: Charles City County, Virginia

Built/Founded: 1726

Architectural style(s): Georgian
Added to NRHP: November 11, 1971

NRHP Reference#: 71001040 ^[1]

Governing body: Private
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Commonwealth of Virginia

Flag of Virginia Seal
Nickname(s): Old Dominion, Mother of Presidents
Motto(s): Sic semper tyrannis

Official language(s) English

Capital Richmond
Largest city
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19th century - 20th century
1830s 1840s 1850s - 1860s - 1870s 1880s 1890s
1859 1860 1861 - 1862 - 1863 1864 1865

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Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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A military tattoo, is a military drum performance. It dates from the seventeenth century when the British Army were fighting in the Low Countries (Belgium and The Netherlands).
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City of Chicago

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Seal
Nickname: "The Windy City", "The Second City", "ChiTown", "Hog Butcher for the World", "City of the Big Shoulders", "The City That Works"
Motto: "Urbs in Horto
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The Confederate States Army (CSA) was organized in February 1861 to defend the newly formed Confederate States of America from military action by the United States government during the American Civil War. As many as 1.4 million men fought in the Army throughout the war.
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Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia, is an American military cemetery established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Custis Lee, a descendant of Martha Washington.
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Motto
"In God We Trust" (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum" ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term cemetery (from Greek κοιμητήριον: sleeping place) implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground.
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Tomb of the Unknowns (also known as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, although it has never been officially named) is a monument in Arlington National Cemetery, United States dedicated to the American servicemen who have died without their remains being identified.
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Decoration Day. This holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. It began first to honor Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War. After World War I, it was expanded to include those who died in any war or military action.
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salute is a gesture (often hand gesture) or other action used to display respect. Salutes are primarily associated with armed forces, but other organizations also use salutes.
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Josef Alexander Pasternack was a well-known conductor and composer in the first half of the 20th century.

He was born in Częstochowa, Poland in 1880, the eldest son of Sigmund and Dora Pasternack. He had two younger brothers, Samuel and David.
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