Taps - St. James Veteran's Home Cemetery - St. James, MO - Etched in Stone on Waymarking.com

County of cemetery: Phelps County
Location of cemetery: 620 N. Jefferson, Missouri Veterans Home, St. James
Number of graves: 761
Cemetery established: 1896
Phone: (573) 265-3271
Fax: (573) 265-5771

Quote:

Fading light
Dims the sight
And a star gems the sky,
Gleaming bright
From afar
Drawing nigh,
Falls the night.
And a star gems the sky,

Dear one rest!
In the west
Sable night
Lulls the day on her breast
Sweet, good night!
Now away
to thy rest.
   Taps

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Legends
There are several legends concerning the origin of "Taps". The most widely circulated one states that a Union Army infantry officer, whose name often is given as Captain Robert Ellicombe, first ordered "Taps" performed at the funeral of his son, a Confederate soldier killed during the Peninsula Campaign. This apocryphal story claims that Ellicombe found the tune in the pocket of his son's clothing and performed it to honor his memory, but there is no record of any man named Robert Ellicombe holding a commission as captain in the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign.

"That Daniel Butterfield composed "Taps" has been sworn to by numerous reputable witnesses including his bugler Norton, who first performed the tune. While scholars continue to debate whether or not the tune was original or based on an earlier melody, few researchers doubt that Butterfield is responsible for the current tune.

"Another, perhaps more historically verifiable, account of "Taps" first being used in the context of a military funeral involves John C. Tidball, a Union artillery captain who during a break in fighting ordered the tune sounded for a deceased soldier in lieu of the more traditional—and much less discreet—three volley tribute. Army Col. James A. Moss, in an Officer's Manual initially published in 1911, reports the following:

   "During the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, a soldier of Tidball's Battery A of the 2nd Artillery was buried at
   a time when the battery occupied an advanced position concealed in the woods. It was not safe to fire
   the customary three volleys over the grave, on account of the proximity of the enemy, and it occurred
   to Capt. Tidball that the sounding of Taps would be the most appropriate ceremony that could be substituted."

"While not necessarily addressing the origin of the "Taps", this does represent the first recorded instance of "Taps" being sounded as part of a military funeral. Until then, while the tune had meant that the soldiers' day of work was finished, it had little to none of the connotation or overtone of death, with which it so often is associated today.

"Another lesser-known legend is that of Lieutenant William Waid paying saloon-keepers to shut off the taps to the kegs when the song was played in a neighboring army camp. LT Waid's name has not been found in Union or Confederate records." ~ Wilipedia

Address: 620 N. Jefferson Saint James Phelps County Missouri USA Website: [Web Link]

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