Many years ago I used to play taps and reveille on bugle at camp. I have fond memories of that but have not owned a bugle in a long time. I’d like to do it again, but have no desire to buy a shiny new or overpriced relic bugle. Just an old dented and tarnished one that I can afford is about right.
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Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield
“The tune is a variation of an earlier bugle call known as the "
Scott Tattoo", which was used in the U.S. from 1835 until 1860.
[8][9] It was arranged in its present form by the
Union ArmyBrigadier General Daniel Butterfield, a
Medal of Honor recipient.
[2] Butterfield commanded the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, V Army Corps,
Army of the Potomac[2] while at
Harrison's Landing, Virginia[2] in July 1862,
[2] and wrote it to replace the customary firing of three rifle volleys at the end of burials during battle.
[2] Butterfield's version in July 1862 replaced a previous French bugle call used to signal "lights out". Butterfield's bugler, Oliver Wilcox Norton,
[10][2] of
East Springfield, Pennsylvania,
[11] was the first to sound the new call.
[2] Within months "Taps" was used by both Union and
Confederate forces.
[2] It was officially recognized by the United States Army in 1874.
[12]
Captain
John C. Tidball, West Point Class of 1848, started the custom of playing "Taps" at military funerals. In early July 1862 at Harrison's Landing, a corporal of Tidball's Battery A,
2nd U.S. Artillery, died[
who?]. He was, Tidball recalled later, "a most excellent man". Tidball wished to bury him with full military honors, but, for military reasons, he was refused permission to fire seven rifles three times (‘three volley’ or ‘twenty-one gun’ salute) over the grave. Tidball later wrote, "The thought suggested itself to me to sound taps instead, which I did. The idea was taken up by others, until in a short time it was adopted by the entire army and is now looked upon as the most appropriate and touching part of a military funeral." As Tidball proudly proclaimed, "Battery A has the honor of having introduced this custom into the service, and it is worthy of historical note."
[13]
It became a standard component to U.S. military funerals in 1891.“
