The 8th U.S. Colored Troops-- Part 2: Its Officers Were All White and From Other Regiments

The Eighth's commander was Colonel Charles W. Fribley of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.  He had risen from being a non-commissioned officer to captain in the 84th Pennsylvania Volunteers..  On 18 November 1863, he was appointed colonel of the Eighth by the Secretary of War.

Fribley's inexperience with higher rank is apparent  from the fact that soon after assuming command, charges were brought against him  by the commandant of Camp William Penn, Lt. Col. Louis Wagner, who accused Fribley  of "obeying my orders when it suits him and disobeying when it does not suit him."

The army's judge advocate general office, however, eventually ruled that the charges were not sufficient to warrant a court martial.

Most of the other officers of the Eighth were also veterans of other regiments who had appeared before examining boards selecting officers for the new U.S.C.T. regiments being formed.  One example was First Lieutenant Oliver Willcox Norton, formerly a private in the 83rd Pennsylvania and its bugler who reportedly played the first "Taps."  He had also fought at the Battle of Gettysburg and many other eastern battles.

The Eighth's lieutenant colonel was Nelson B. Bartram, formerly of the 70th New York and Major Loren Burritt had been with the 56th Pennsylvania.

Again, officers in the new USCT regiments were all whites.

--Old Secesh

Oliver Willcox Norton and "Taps"-- Part 2: Became Lieutenant in 8th U.S.C.T.

Whether "Taps was the handiwork of Norton or his commanding officer, General Daniel Butterfield is not known for sure.

But, it was on a night in 1862 that "Taps" was first played.  Shortly after it was heard, other Union buglers adopted it, and even Confederate buglers, to signal the end of the day.

As for Norton, he resigned from the 83rd Pennsylvania when he was commissioned as lieutenant in the 8th United States Colored Troops, on November 10, 1863.  He remained with that unit until 1865.  He also wrote "The Attack and Defense of Little Round Top" (1913) as his eyewitness  account of that part of the Battle of Gettysburg.

After the war, he became a New York banker and later moved to Chicago to invest in a company which produced cans.  From that, he eventually became one of the founders of the American Can Company.

He died in 1920 at the age of 81.

--Old Secesh

Oliver Willcox Norton and "Taps"-- Part 1: He Played It First

I wrote about him in yesterday's post.

From Find-A Grave.

OLIVER WILLCOX NORTON

Birth:  17 December 1839   Angelica, New York

Death:  1 October 1920 aged 80    Cremated and ashes spread by his family.

He was teaching in West Springfield, Pennsylvania, when the war began and resigned and joined Co. K of the 83rd Pennsylvania as a private on September 1, 1861.  He was wounded at Gaines Mill, Virginia, on June 27, 1862.

Mr. Norton  likely had no idea the impact he had on the military, both its nightly routine and in honoring those who gave their lives.

That moment came when, as a the company bugler, he played a variation of a Scottish tattoo that would become known as "Taps."

--Old SecTaps

The Birth of Taps

From the November 8, 2019 Chicago Tribune  "Touching notes"

Bugles were first used by American armies during the American Revolution.

"Bugles were the way orders were communicated before there were electronic means," says bugler Tom Day.  "There were bugle calls to move to the left, move to the right, charge, fall back.  The bugler was right there with the commander sending the call."

Then, in 1862, during the Civil War, a new bugle call was established.  General Daniel Butterfield was in command of Union troops at Harrison's Landing in Virginia.  There was a tradition of firing a cannon at the end of the day to honor the fallen from that day's battles.

But General Butterfield didn't want to fire the cannon and give away his troops' location so he asked the bugler to play a tune he'd heard in France.  That bugler was Oliver Willcox Norton and he listened to the tune and wrote down the 24 notes and played them for the troops for the first time.

Other buglers began playing the tune, which is now known as "Taps" to mark the end of the day.  Although, there are some variations on the origin of "Taps" this is the best one.

"Taps" are still played on military bases for "lights out."

--Old SecTap