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The Unceremonious Origin of Taps
Beth Ferrara, about.com

The eerie melody of Taps is recognizable to most Americans and to all of our soldiers as the traditional song of endings. It marks the end of the day as well as the end of lives. Written in 1862 by Dan Buttefield, a Union General, the song quickly became the nation's requiem.

Camped at the Berkley Plantation shortly after the battles of Gaines' Mill and Malvern Hill, Buttefield and his men were spending an uncomfortable July night in the Virginia heat. When it came time for lights out, the bugler played the traditional French Extinguish Lights melody, a song Buttefield had always disliked.

Inspired by his aversion to the song he'd just heard, Buttefield set out to write something more soothing to end the day. O.W. Norton, Buttefield's 22 year old bugler, recounts what happened next: "Buttefield, showing me some notes on staff written in pencil on the back envelope, asked me to sound them on my bugle. I did this several times, playing the music as written. He changed it somewhat, lengthening some notes and shortening others, but retaining the melody as he first gave it to me. After getting it to his satisfaction, he directed me to sound the call thereafter, in place of the regular call. The music was beautiful on the still summer nights and was heard far beyond the limits of our brigade. The next day I was visited by several other buglers from neighboring brigades asking for a copy of the music, which I gladly furnished."

The song drifted over the battlefield, and it is said that Confederate buglers began playing it as well. To avoid instigating unexpected attacks during the war, Taps was substituted for the customary rifle volleys played at military funerals.

When Buttefield died in 1901, Taps was played at his burial at West Point where his white marble monument still stands.