Butterfield's Lullaby

Medal of Honor recipient Daniel Adams Butterfield was a Union General in the Civil war and a member of Metropolitan Lodge 373 in New York.  Stationed at Harrison's Landing in July, 1862, Brother Butterfield composed a few new bugle calls for his troops.  One in particular was a haunting tune which became known as "Butterfield's Lullaby." General Butterfield, used it to replace the customary firing of three rifle volleys at the end of burials during battle. He also had the tune played to signal the end of the day's activities.  The tune caught on and within months both Union and Confederate troops were using it as the bugle call at day's end.  The military continues that tradition to this day, now simply calling "Butterfield's Lullaby" by its more common name, "Taps."

The bugle call's contemporary title, "Taps," derives from the Dutch word "Taptoe," which was also a bugle call for lights out.  It is from the phrase "Doe den tap toe," which literally means, "turn the tap off," signaling the time to turn off beer taps at the end of the day.  The French used the same derivation for the word "Tattoo."  It has no derivative relationship to the same word which refers to marking the skin with indelible ink.