I received the following email from Ralph Haas regarding the origin of TAPS.
Thanks, Ralph.



Jack: I noted the TAPS article on your page, and while I have no problem with it, it has no basis in fact or documentation; it surfaces every now and again on the web. I write Civil War books and pamhplets and research has shown the following story of TAPS to be true; backed by documents. Please use it or not use it as you deem appropriate.

I have included an item on the meaning of the folds in a Military Flag Folding Ceremony. To read about the Flag Folding Ceremony, click HERE.

Origin of TAPS

Just what effect does our traditional Military Funeral Song, "Taps," have on you when you hear it? Without a doubt this melancholy tune brings home the finality of death to those of us who have lost loved ones to America's wars, and yet for the living it also signifies the end of each day at all United States Military establishments around the world. It is at once the briefest of patriotic songs and also the most gentle in its lyrics. This heart-rending melody never fails to elicit a tear or bring within an individual the rush of a memory of a departed friend or relative.

This song, known simply as "Taps," could be accurately termed as a "uniquely American" invention, having been formulated amid the terror of war in the strife-torn Virginia countryside in July of 1862. A Brigadier General at the time, Dan Butterfield was also a musical man, and he is the recognized composer; and with the help of a skilled young Pennsylvania Bugler named Oliver W. Norton, a member of the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry, the tune was heard for the first time on the evening of July 2, 1862. But General Butterfield's unique tribute to his fallen comrades was actually the result of some reworking of a long time Army standard called "Tattoo," and the "Tattoo" melody itself had been taken from an old French military bugle call. During our Civil War the "Tattoo" was played by the bugler each night to tell soldiers it was time to rest; many times to get ready to face another day of combat. But let's look just a little closer at Dan Butterfield and see what events inspired him in his quest to create this emotion-provoking little theme.

Daniel Adams Butterfield, born October 31, 1831, in Utica, New York, was the third son for John Butterfield, who was then quite successful in his business ventures with Overland Stage Lines and American Express. Daniel, already a successful lawyer/businessman when the Civil War broke out, joined the Union volunteers in May of 1861, and was given the rank of colonel in the 12th New York Infantry. Within three months, while stationed in the Shenandoah Valley, Dan Butterfield's abundant leadership ability was rewarded with a promotion; and as a Brigadier General he would take command of the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Army Corps.

However, Dan Butterfield was also a musician of some note, and he dabbled in altering the Army's bugle calls throughout fierce battles like Second Bull Run, or Manassas, and the Battle of the Seven Days at Richmond, Virginia. At Gaines' Mills on June 27, 1862, Butterfield's bravery earned him the Medal of Honor for his actions against the enemy. The Army's official citation, dated September 26, 1896, reads: "For seizing the colors of the 83rd Pennsylvania Volunteers at a critical moment and, under a galling fire of the enemy, encouraging the depleted ranks to renewed exertion." But this fame was the fleeting kind.

In spite of his bravery in the skirmishes near Richmond, and his participation in the bloodbaths at Antietam and Fredericksburg, it was his musical bent that brought him immortal fame; and the incident that did it took place on July 1, 1862, at Malvern Hill near Richmond, Va.

As his tired brigade rested near the James River on the Berkley Plantation lands, Butterfield's thoughts were dominated by the huge loss of life he had witnessed in the last week. Sitting quietly here, near the Tidewater, he counted nearly 7,000 killed in action, many dying just yesterday at Malvern Hill. Indeed, Dan Butterfield himself had sustained wounds, but right now he sought a special way to honor these men. Many of the dead had been left where they fell without so much as a rifle salute to mark their graves. It was this intense desire to render some kind of special honors to his men that made Dan Butterfield take such a keen interest in the traditional Army "lights out" tune, the one military melody that had always offended him. The fact that we had taken it from a French bugle call, the "Tattoo," signaling the end of day, compounded the problem, and Dan Butterfield knew there had be a more fitting, more American way to perform even this routine task.

Butterfield redoubled his efforts when other officers expressed their own fears when it came to using the army's long-accepted rifle volleys at the graves of soldiers. These men cautioned their leaders that such actions might elicit a retaliation from jumpy Confederates nearby. Thus confronted, Dan Butterfield was convinced more than ever the Army needed a more peaceful way to honor its dead; indeed, had it not been a loud rifle shot that had caused many of these deaths in the first place?

With the patriotic inspiration of a Francis Scott Key, Dan Butterfield drew from his pocket the only usable paper he possessed, a beat up old envelope, and went to work at once. Ironically, at this point the despised melody of the "Tattoo" would be his greatest ally, and by using the old French tune's last five and a half bars, General Butterfield soon arrived at what he deemed the answer to everyone's dilemma. This "new from old" melody could replace the daily sounding of the irritating "Tattoo" tune, and would also solve the problem of having to fire loud rifle shots to salute the fallen Union soldiers; he called it "Taps."

Pennsylvania now entered the "Taps" picture in the person of Oliver Willcox Norton, a 22 year old bugler in Butterfield’s 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment. A Norton letter described his part thusly:

"General Butterfield, upon showing me some notes on staff written in pencil on the back of a crumpled envelope, requested that I sound them on my bugle. I did this several times for him, playing the music as he had written it. He changed it somewhat, lengthening some notes and shortening others, but retaining the melody as he first gave it to me. After getting it to his satisfaction, he directed me to sound the call thereafter, in place of the regular call. The music was beautiful on the still summer night and was heard far beyond the limits of our brigade. The next day I was visited by several other buglers from neighboring brigades asking for a copy of the music, which I gladly furnished."

O.W. Norton's "Taps," played the evening of July 2, 1862, changed military procedure forever. So it was here, amid the gentle scent of Virginia's Laurel and Dogwood, that the first notes of Dan Butterfield's beautiful music came from the skilled horn of Private Norton; drifting through forests and across streams to Confederate ears. For a few hours North and South had no quarrel, and even the enemy wanted to play this new "Taps" to honor their own deceased soldiers. The haunting notes of "Taps" also gave wary Union officers a means of replacing the customary rifle salute; where they were sorely worried about an attack by nervous Confederates during funeral services. Indeed, General Daniel Butterfield's "Taps" was destined to become the nation’s military funeral standard.

Private Norton, a native of Albion, Pa., accepted a commission to lieutenant in the Eighth U.S. Colored Troops, and both he and General Dan Butterfield survived the war. Butterfield served faithfully as chief of staff to "Fighting Joe" Hooker in the Army of the Potomac, and gave the same dedication to General George G. Meade at Gettysburg, where Butterfield was again wounded in action. At Chattanooga he skillfully commanded the Third Division of the XX Corps, and when he fell victim to illness in the Atlanta campaign his combat time ended; but his bugle call lives forever!

Major General Daniel A. Butterfield remained active in the Army until 1870 and, upon resigning, he gave America more time as the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. He then resumed his civilian life in a very successful vein in Oneida, New York; and the acknowledged author of our traditional "Taps" passed away in Cold Spring, New York, on July 17th, 1901. Dan Butterfield was honored by his beloved song at West Point, where his grave is prominently marked with a great white marble monument. The Oneida Historical Society has his Medal of Honor, his battered mess gear made of pure silver, two sabers and other Butterfield possessions. But everyday we hear Dan Butterfield's greatest legacy of all, a tune that tells all dedicated Americans just how much we love them.

"Fading light ..... falling night,

Trumpet calls as the sun sinks in flight.

Sleep in peace comrade dear,

God is near"