RICHMOND, Va. — The 24 notes of Taps, so familiar to the ear, are melodic yet solemn in their simplicity.
Stewart Boone, a 98-year-old bugler, does not need sheet music anymore.
The veteran of the Battle of the Bulge said he's played Taps 1,248 times.
"It is an honor to play it," Boone said. "It brings tears to most people’s eyes who hear it."
The musician recently honored fellow soldiers who have gone before him at Richmond National Cemetery. The tune that echoes from coast to coast at military funerals and installations daily was composed just a few miles away.
Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County was the site of the first Thanksgiving and home to our 9th President William Henry Harrison.
The sprawling landmark sitting along the James River is also the birthplace of Taps.
“A lot of people don’t know this is the spot,” Taps historian Jari Villanueva said. “The tune itself has become our national tune of remembrance.”
In July 1862, while the Civil War raged across Virginia, Union General Daniel Butterfield composed the song to order lights out for his troops.
“This is very historic ground,” Villanueva said. “And the fact that Taps, America’s most famous bugle call, was born here is just so important.”
The historian and author of “Twenty-four Notes That Tap Deep Emotions: The Story of America's Most Famous Bugle Call,” said the new tune gripped the 140,000 soldiers camped at Berkeley and beyond.
“I am sure they were looking at each other wondering what that was,” Villanueva said.
The United States Air Force Band veteran has performed Taps tens of thousands of times at Arlington National Cemetery and military ceremonies.
“It has been a bugle call that has been with me all of my life,” Villanueva said.
More than a century and a half later, the song has woven itself into the American fabric.
“It is recognizable in the first three notes,” Villanueva said. “You could sound it anywhere around the world and people will know what that piece is.”
Malcolm Jamieson, who owns Berkeley, said Taps touched his soul.
“Taps was born out of this terribly awful struggle,” Jamieson said. “It was a haunting melody. It is not another tune. It is something that is uniquely American. Very heavy and profound.”
As a teen, Jamieson's grandfather John served as a drummer boy in the Union Army and listened to Taps played for the first time right here.
“I’ve heard it hundreds or thousands of times,” Jamieson said. “Every time I hear it, it gives me goosebumps. It affects me.”
Historians at Berkeley embrace this musical chapter.
A memorial installed 53 years ago commemorates the historic moment.
“For anyone who served in the military, they know how special that call is,” Villanueva said.
The bugle that was reportedly used by Oliver Norton Wilcox, the soldier who first performed the tune, is on display.
“It is an emotional call because it is performed under the most trying circumstances,” Villanueva said.
Maryland native and Civil War re-enactor Jari Villanueva returns to Berkeley often with bugle in hand.
“It is a little eerie knowing that this is the birthplace of Taps but it is also an honor to be standing on this ground where the call was composed 160 years ago,” Villanueva said. “It is such a poignant piece of music. It is that song that is the nation’s farewell to those who have served.”
The 24 notes of Taps signal finality. A somber ending. But it is one tune that carries on. Enduring over the centuries. Passed down from generation to generation. One soldier to another.
“They’re hearing it,” Villanueva said. “They may be in some unconscious level that we’re not really aware of. They’re listening and they are hearing it. And they’re appreciative.”
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