"Taps"

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

"TAPS"<br /> <br />We in the United States have all heard the haunting song, "Taps." It's<br />the song that gives us that lump in our throats and usually tears in our eyes. But, do you know the story behind the song?<br /><br /> If not, I think you will be interested to find out about its humble beginnings. Reportedly, it all began in 1862 during the Civil War, when<br />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 moans of a soldier<br />who lay severely wounded on the field. Not knowing if it was a Union or Confederate soldier, the Captain decided to risk his life and bring the<br />stricken man back for medical attention.<br /><br /> Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the Captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment. When the<br />Captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead. The Captain lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock.<br /><br /> In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out. Without telling his father, the boy enlisted in the Confederate Army. The following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial,<br />despite his enemy status. His request was only partially granted. The Captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a<br />funeral dirge for his son at the funeral. The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate. But, out of respect for the father, they did say they could give him only one musician. The Captain chose a bugler. He<br />asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of the dead youth's uniform. This wish was granted..<br /><br /> The haunting melody, we now know as "Taps" ... used at military funerals was born. <br />The words are:<br /><br /> Day is done ... Gone the sun ... From the lakes ... From the hills<br /> From the sky ... All is well ... Safely rest ... God is nigh.<br /> Fading light ... Dims the sight ... And a star ... Gems the sky ...<br /> Gleaming bright ... From afar ... Drawing nigh ...Falls the night.<br /> Thanks and praise ... For our days ... Neath the sun ... Neath the stars<br /> Neath the sky ... As we go ... This we know ... God is nigh.<br /><br /> I, too, have felt the chills while listening to "Taps" but I have never seen all the words to the song or the story behind the song. I now have an even deeper respect for the song than I did before.

 

[mattttt25]

Re: "Taps"

it's a touching story, but false according to snopes.com:<br /><br />Origins: It's hard to feel surprised when a melody as hauntingly beautiful as Taps picks up a legend about how it came to be written -- it's too mournfully direct a piece for the mere truth to suffice. <br /><br />Taps was composed in July 1862 at Harrison's Landing in Virginia, but after that the fanciful e-mail quoted above parts way with reality. There was no dead son, Confederate or otherwise; no lone bugler sounding out the dead boy's last composition. How the call came into being was never anything more than one influential soldier deciding his unit could use a bugle call for particular occasions and setting about to come up with one. <br /><br />If anyone can be said to have composed 'Taps,' it was Brig. Gen. Daniel Butterfield, Commander of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, V Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, during the American Civil War. Dissatisfied with the customary firing of three rifle volleys at the conclusion of burials during battle and also needing a method of ceremonially imparting meaning to the end of a soldier's day, he likely altered an older piece known as "Tattoo," a French bugle call used to signal "lights out," into the call we now know as 'Taps.' (Alternatively, he wrote the whole thing from scratch, a possibility not at all supported by his lack of musical background and ability.) <br /><br />Whether he wrote it straight from the cuff or improvised something new by rearranging an older work, Butterfield brought 'Taps' into being. With the help of his bugler, Oliver W. Norton of Chicago, the concept was transformed into its present form. "Taps" was quickly taken up by both sides of the conflict, and within months was being sounded by buglers in both Union and Confederate forces. <br /><br />Then as now, 'Taps' serves as a vital component in ceremonies honoring military dead. It is also understood by American servicemen as an end-of-day 'lights out' signal. <br /><br />When "Taps" is played at a military funeral, it is customary to salute if in uniform, or place your hand over your heart if not.

 

[JB]

Re: "Taps"

Thanks, guys. For the myth, and for the truth.<br /><br />When I was a boy at summer camp in the early 40s we gathered each evening around a council fire where we sang the words of TAPS to honor our fighting men who had died in battle.<br /><br />Later, the mournful notes of the camp bugler bade us lanterns out.<br /><br />The origins add a lot to its powerful statement.

 

[SpinnerBait_Nut]

Re: "Taps"

Don't really care how it came about, but is that the words to it or not?<br /><br />I kinda figured that the way it was worded was a little off, but figured maybe the lyrics were right.

 

[neumanns]

Re: "Taps"

Sometimes when we here things we need to make a decision if it is fact or fiction, many times we believe what is convienent for us. I personally like the first acount and think it relays a very strong and appropriate emotion. This is not to say that I disregard the true story but rather like the fictionalized account for the point it makes.<br /><br />This is how urban legends survive, long live the urban legend. I'm a sap for a good tale that makes a good point.

 

[Jack Shellac]

Re: "Taps"

SBN: I always thought the second line of the lyrics ended " Rest in peace, soldier brave. God is nigh". I could be wrong, but have heard it sung this way at military funerals. In any event, it gets to me every time I hear it.

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: "Taps"

it gets to me too. i can feel the folded flag placed in my hands again. at my dad's funeral. i wish i could remember the name of the tune the bagpipes played at my fatherNlaw's funeral, as they walked by in the distance, after the taps...

 

[RICKRICK1]

Re: "Taps"

It gets to me also, Taps and the National Anthem. 22 yrs of military service and I still get the chills when ever I hear either one played.

 

[clanton]

Re: "Taps"

I can still remember this being played at my uncles funeral a Navy Sea-Bee 1947, More to this story, he had 2 sons that were adopted after his death, and I have just located them after 56 years about 4 months ago, one a retired Marine.