Memorial Day - TAPS

"TAPS" is a variation of an earlier bugle call known as the "Scott Tattoo", which was used in the U.S. from 1835 until 1860. It was arranged in its present form by the Union Army Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield, a Medal of Honor recipient.

Butterfield commanded the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, V Army Corps, Army of the Potomac while at Harrison's Landing, Virginia in July 1862, and wrote it to replace the customary firing of three rifle volleys at the end of burials during battle.

Butterfield's version in July 1862 replaced a previous French bugle call used to signal "lights out". Butterfield's bugler, Oliver Wilcox Norton, of East Springfield, Pennsylvania, was the first to sound the new call.

Within months "Taps" was used by both Union and Confederate forces. It was officially recognized by the United States Army in 1874.