Story from member Bill Ingram.
I had the great opportunity of serving this nation in some of the deadliest battles of the
20th century: There I met and fought with the warriors who risked their lives day after
day and night to make our success possible. I admired and cared about these people.
Indeed, we cared about each other. My friends and associated were courageous risk
takers who were loyal not only to their country, but also loyal to each other. We were
bonded together. Tragically, death was a common occurrence. We who lived moved
forward with the full realization that we were leveraging off the backs of our dead
comrades. That being the case, it was only natural that the haunting melody of a
musical offering known as "taps" enchanted us.
I wonder how many know the story behind the song. I do not know whether this is a
true story or not, but this is what I have heard.
It happened during the civil war when Union Captain, Robert Ellicombe was with his
troops near Harris Landing in Virginia. Members of the Confederate army were on
the other side of a narrow strip of land. During the night, the captain heard the moans
of a soldier who lay wounded between the opposing forces, The Captain decided to
risk his life to save the wounded man. Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire,
he reached the wounded man and pulled him back to the Union line. When he got out
of the darkness and the gunfire, he discovered the soldier was Confederate not Union,
and moreover the soldier was now dead. The Captain suddenly caught his breath. In
the dim light he saw the face of the young soldier; it was his own son.
The boy had been studying music in the south when the war broke out. Without telling
his father, the boy had joined the Confederate army.
When morning came the heart broken father asked his superior to give his son a full
military burial. The request was refused because his son was a Confederate.
However his superior agreed to give him one musician. The father chose a bugler.
He asked the bugler to play certain notes found in the boy's uniform. It was at that
time the melody we know as taps and played at military funerals was born. It is
worded as follows:
Day is gone-gone the sun-from the lake-to the hills- all is well-safely rest-God is nigh.
Fading light-Dims the sight- and a star-gems the sky-Gleaming bright-from
afar-drawing nigh-falls the night.
Thanks and praise-for our days-Neath the sun-Neath the stars-as we go-this we
know-God is nigh.
So this is the story. It is through playing this haunting melody that we honor those
who spilt their blood for each and all of us, and for this Great Nation.
William R. Ingram
Retired Colonel.
I had the great opportunity of serving this nation in some of the deadliest battles of the
20th century: There I met and fought with the warriors who risked their lives day after
day and night to make our success possible. I admired and cared about these people.
Indeed, we cared about each other. My friends and associated were courageous risk
takers who were loyal not only to their country, but also loyal to each other. We were
bonded together. Tragically, death was a common occurrence. We who lived moved
forward with the full realization that we were leveraging off the backs of our dead
comrades. That being the case, it was only natural that the haunting melody of a
musical offering known as "taps" enchanted us.
I wonder how many know the story behind the song. I do not know whether this is a
true story or not, but this is what I have heard.
It happened during the civil war when Union Captain, Robert Ellicombe was with his
troops near Harris Landing in Virginia. Members of the Confederate army were on
the other side of a narrow strip of land. During the night, the captain heard the moans
of a soldier who lay wounded between the opposing forces, The Captain decided to
risk his life to save the wounded man. Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire,
he reached the wounded man and pulled him back to the Union line. When he got out
of the darkness and the gunfire, he discovered the soldier was Confederate not Union,
and moreover the soldier was now dead. The Captain suddenly caught his breath. In
the dim light he saw the face of the young soldier; it was his own son.
The boy had been studying music in the south when the war broke out. Without telling
his father, the boy had joined the Confederate army.
When morning came the heart broken father asked his superior to give his son a full
military burial. The request was refused because his son was a Confederate.
However his superior agreed to give him one musician. The father chose a bugler.
He asked the bugler to play certain notes found in the boy's uniform. It was at that
time the melody we know as taps and played at military funerals was born. It is
worded as follows:
Day is gone-gone the sun-from the lake-to the hills- all is well-safely rest-God is nigh.
Fading light-Dims the sight- and a star-gems the sky-Gleaming bright-from
afar-drawing nigh-falls the night.
Thanks and praise-for our days-Neath the sun-Neath the stars-as we go-this we
know-God is nigh.
So this is the story. It is through playing this haunting melody that we honor those
who spilt their blood for each and all of us, and for this Great Nation.
William R. Ingram
Retired Colonel.
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