In the military, bugles were once used almost like loudspeakers to tell the troops what time it was, and what to do.  Different melodies had different meanings, both on the battlefield and in camp.  In the evening, the bugler would signal "Extinguish lights" -- time for the lights to go out and troops to go to bed. 

During the Civil War, General Daniel Butterfield commanded a brigade in the Army of the Potomac.  He didn't like the bugle call for Extinguish Lights, and with the help of the brigade bugler, Oliver Willcox Norton, rewrote the call.  His troops were encamped at Harrison's Landing, Virginia after the "Seven's Days Battles" that killed over 26,000 Union and Confederate soldiers . The new call, sounded that night in July, 1862, soon spread to other units of the Union Army and was reportedly also used by the Confederates. It began to be referred to as "Taps" and became an official Army bugle call after the war.  The haunting melody has been used at military funerals since before the turn of the twentieth century.

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the sky.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep, peaceful sleep,
May the soldier or sailor,
God keep.
On the land or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Thanks and praise, For our days,
'Neath the sun, Neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we go, This we know,
God is nigh.

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