Composed By Major General Daniel Butterfield Army of the
Potomac, Civil War. This bugle call was written during the Peninsula
Campaign of the Civil War in the year 1862 after a battle near Richmond,
Virginia which saw a large number of Union causualties. It is said that
the tune came to then Brigade Commander Colonel Daniel Butterfield,
while reflecting sadly on the losses.
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According to the story, Butterfield unable to write music,
hummed it to his aide who wrote it down in musical notation. It was
performed that evening by his bugler, Oliver W. Norton in honor of
fallen comrades.
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In 1874, it became officially recognized by the U.S. Army as an
alternative to "Lights Out" and since has been used not only a
signal that day was done, but also as means of saying good-bye to a
fallen comrade, usually accompanied by the drumbeat, Muffled Ruffles.
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| It is now customarily played at military funerals, usually
accompanied with a 21 gun salute across the land. |
