In case you ever wondered where "Taps" came from and the words to it. We have all heard it many times but few know its origin or the words. In 1862 during the Civil War, Union Army Capt. Robert Ellicombe was with his men near Harrison Landing, VA. The Confederate Army was on the other side of this narrow strip of land. During the night, Capt. Ellicombe heard the moan of a soldier who lay wounded on the field.

Crawling on his stomach through the gun fire, the captain reached the stricken solder and began pulling him toward his encampment. When he finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was actually a Confederate soldier but the soldier had died.

Suddenly, the captain went numb with shock. In the dim light he saw the face of the soldier own son. The boy had been studying music in the south when the war broke out and, without telling his father, enlisted in the Confederate Army.

The heartbroken father asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral. That request was turned won because the soldier was a Confederate.

Out of respect for the father, however, they said they would give him one musician. He chose a bugler, whom he asked to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of the dead youths uniform. That music was the haunting bugle melody we now know as "Taps."

Day is done. Gone the sun
From the lake, from the hill, from the sky
All is well. Safely rest
God is nigh

Thanks and praise, for our days
'Neath the sun, neath the stars, 'neath the sky.
As we go, this we know.
God is night.