Taps is a bugle call that is played in the United States military at funerals, wreath-laying ceremonies, and memorial services). It is also played each night on military bases to signal "lights out"). The earliest official reference to the mandatory use of Taps at military funeral ceremonies is found in the U.S. Army Infantry Drill Regulations for 1891, although it had doubtless been used unofficially long before that time, under its former designation "Extinguish Lights". The first use of Taps at a funeral was during the Peninsular Campaign in Virginia, when Captain John C. Tidball of Battery A, 2nd Artillery ordered it played for the burial of a cannoneer killed in action. The origin of the word "Taps" is thought to have come from the Dutch word for "Tattoo" - "Taptoe". While there are multiple stories related to the origins of Taps, it is generally agreed that it started out as a military signal for soldiers to turn out the lights and go to bed. The melody is both eloquent and haunting, and the history of its origin is interesting and somewhat clouded in controversy and myth.