Reportedly, in 1862 during the Civil War, Union Army Captain Robert Ellicombe was near Harrison's Landing, Virginia fighting the Confederate Army on the other side of the narrow strip of land. During the night, Cpt Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who was severely wounded on the field.
Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the captain reached the stricken soldier and began pulling him toward the encampment for medical attention. Reaching his own lines, he discovered the soldier was actually a Confederate, but the soldier was dead. The Captain lit a lantern and suddenly, in the dim light, saw the soldier’s face. It was his own son. His son was studying music in the South when the war broke out. Without telling his father, he had enlisted in the Confederate Army.
The Captain asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the burial. The request was denied since the soldier was a Confederate. However, out of respect for the father, he was given one musician.
The Captain chose a bugler and asked him to play a series of musical notes found on a piece of paper in the pocket of the dead youth's uniform. The haunting melody, which we now know as “Taps” was born.
And so nearly every, night just at sundown, we listen to the sound of a lone bugle playing across the water....and the beat goes on.
~Nancy
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