TAPS

Gold Tone solid brass. Measures 1/4" x 2 3/4"

The card enclosed with the brooch reads:

It was a very hot July night in 1862.  The 140,000 exhausted, demoralized Union men were encamped in the soggy mud along the James River.  Brig Gen Daniel Adams Butterfield would not stay in a plantation home, he camped in a tent close to his men.  Butterfield had a deep compassion for his men and had risked his own life many times to ensure their safety.  In fact, he is a Medal of Honor recipient. That July night he thought to himself that the soldiers could not go to sleep under such wretched conditions and sleep is what the soldiers needed more than anything.  He pulled out his watch and saw that the bugler would soon signal "extinguish lights".  He always thought the call was too harsh, not at all soothing.  So......the general ordered the bugler to his tent and handed him some notes he had written in pencil on the back of an envelope.  It was known throughout the Union forces as Butterfield's Lullaby. Today, Taps is rendered for every veteran when laid to rest.