History of Taps
May 21, 2005 15:26:10 GMT -6
Post by Moderator on May 21, 2005 15:26:10 GMT -6
The 24-note melancholy bugle call known as Taps is thought to be a revision of a French bugle signal, called Tattoo, that notified soldiers to cease an evening's drinking and return to their garrisons. It was sounded an hour before the final bugle call to end the day by extinguishing fires and lights. The last five measures of the tattoo resemble taps.
The word "taps" is an alteration of the obsolete word "taptoo", derived from the Dutch "taptoe". Taptoe was the command to shut ("toe to") the tap of a keg.
The revision that gave us present-day Taps was made during America's Civil War by Union Gen. Daniel Adams Butterfield, heading a brigade camped at Harrison Landing, Va., near Richmond. Up to that time, the U.S. Army's infantry call to end the day was the French final call, "L'Extinction des feux". General Butterfield decided the "lights out" music was too formal to signal the day's end. One day in July 1862, he recalled the tattoo music and hummed a version of it to an aide, who wrote it down in music. Butterfield then asked the brigade bugler, Oliver W. Norton, to play the notes and, after listening, lengthened and shortened them while keeping his original melody.
He ordered Norton to play this new call at the end of each day thereafter, instead of the regulation call. The music was heard and appreciated by other brigades, who asked for copies and adopted this bugle call. It was even adopted by Confederate buglers.
This music was made the official Army bugle call after the war, but not given the name Taps until 1874.
The first time Taps was played at a military funeral may also have been in Virginia soon after Butterfield composed it. Union Capt. John Tidball, head of an artillery battery, ordered it played for the burial of a cannoneer killed in action. Not wanting to reveal the battery's position in the woods to the enemy nearby, Tidball substituted Taps for the traditional three rifle volleys fired over the grave. Taps was played at the funeral of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson 10 months after it was composed. Army infantry regulations by 1891 required Taps to be played at military funeral ceremonies.
Taps is now played by the military at burial and memorial services, to accompany the lowering of the flag and to signal the "lights out" command at day's end.
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The different types of Taps ...
There are two types of Taps approved for Military Funeral Honors for Servicemembers and Veterans:
--- A lone bugler plays all 24 notes
Silver Echo Taps
--- The lead bugler plays all 24 notes and two other buglers play portions to create an "echo" from two other, and different, locations. The buglers are usually positioned in a triangle, representing the folded Flag. The lead bugler is at or near the ceremonial site and the two other buglers are "fanned out" further from the site, and facing away from the site. All 3 buglers must be accomplished players.[/ul]
Other types of Taps that are NOT approved for Military Funeral Honors:
--- The lead bugler begins playing and is joined by a second bugler on the fourth note. Both buglers must be accomplished players.
Cascade Taps
--- One bugler plays all 24 notes and then the next bugler begins playing all 24 notes. Any number of buglers can be involved. Sometimes the following bugler begins as the previous bugler sounds the 22nd note.
Group Taps
--- An assembly of buglers plays all 24 notes simultaneously. This is extremely difficult to accomplish because of the different "style" one bugler has from another. All of the buglers must be accomplished players and must spend a great deal of time practicing together.[/ul]
The word "taps" is an alteration of the obsolete word "taptoo", derived from the Dutch "taptoe". Taptoe was the command to shut ("toe to") the tap of a keg.
The revision that gave us present-day Taps was made during America's Civil War by Union Gen. Daniel Adams Butterfield, heading a brigade camped at Harrison Landing, Va., near Richmond. Up to that time, the U.S. Army's infantry call to end the day was the French final call, "L'Extinction des feux". General Butterfield decided the "lights out" music was too formal to signal the day's end. One day in July 1862, he recalled the tattoo music and hummed a version of it to an aide, who wrote it down in music. Butterfield then asked the brigade bugler, Oliver W. Norton, to play the notes and, after listening, lengthened and shortened them while keeping his original melody.
He ordered Norton to play this new call at the end of each day thereafter, instead of the regulation call. The music was heard and appreciated by other brigades, who asked for copies and adopted this bugle call. It was even adopted by Confederate buglers.
This music was made the official Army bugle call after the war, but not given the name Taps until 1874.
The first time Taps was played at a military funeral may also have been in Virginia soon after Butterfield composed it. Union Capt. John Tidball, head of an artillery battery, ordered it played for the burial of a cannoneer killed in action. Not wanting to reveal the battery's position in the woods to the enemy nearby, Tidball substituted Taps for the traditional three rifle volleys fired over the grave. Taps was played at the funeral of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson 10 months after it was composed. Army infantry regulations by 1891 required Taps to be played at military funeral ceremonies.
Taps is now played by the military at burial and memorial services, to accompany the lowering of the flag and to signal the "lights out" command at day's end.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The different types of Taps ...
There are two types of Taps approved for Military Funeral Honors for Servicemembers and Veterans:
--- A lone bugler plays all 24 notes
Silver Echo Taps
--- The lead bugler plays all 24 notes and two other buglers play portions to create an "echo" from two other, and different, locations. The buglers are usually positioned in a triangle, representing the folded Flag. The lead bugler is at or near the ceremonial site and the two other buglers are "fanned out" further from the site, and facing away from the site. All 3 buglers must be accomplished players.[/ul]
Other types of Taps that are NOT approved for Military Funeral Honors:
--- The lead bugler begins playing and is joined by a second bugler on the fourth note. Both buglers must be accomplished players.
Cascade Taps
--- One bugler plays all 24 notes and then the next bugler begins playing all 24 notes. Any number of buglers can be involved. Sometimes the following bugler begins as the previous bugler sounds the 22nd note.
Group Taps
--- An assembly of buglers plays all 24 notes simultaneously. This is extremely difficult to accomplish because of the different "style" one bugler has from another. All of the buglers must be accomplished players and must spend a great deal of time practicing together.[/ul]