The following notes and links are mainly the historical news sources for the story titled “The History of Silver Taps” by Sue Owen ’94 in the January-February 2022 issue of Texas Aggie magazine. They are organized in the order of their appearance in that story.

This research would not have been possible without the digitization of the Texas A&M Newspaper Collection by the Texas A&M University Libraries Preservation unit, funded through the generosity of the Class of 1949. In addition, the knowledge and hard work of researchers at the Texas A&M Libraries, including Bill Page ’76, provided much information on early Silver Taps and A&M student deaths. 

Sources

1932 Silver Taps poem: 

• “In Memoriam” by C.A. Rechenthin ’32 in A&M’s 1932 Long Horn yearbook.

1910s: Funeral Processions To Train Station

Detailed newspaper descriptions in 1912 and 1913 of student deaths at A&M - flag lowered; often classes canceled, funeral service on campus, cadet procession to train station sometimes led by band; roommate or other cadets might accompany home:

• April 1, 1912, Eagle: Cadet Norman Samuel Hunter drowns in Brazos River after annual practice march to the river. Flag flew at half-staff the next day and the band’s concert scheduled for that night was canceled. 
• April 8, 1912, Eagle: Hunter’s body was found by a cadet who went back to the river every day looking for him; flag lowered to half-staff, classes suspended; services held 11 a.m. in the college chapel, with music by a student quartet; then procession and hearse; remains put on train, and roommate and another cadet went with him.
• Nov. 26, 1912, Eagle: When student W.B. Schiller died, classes were dismissed and the flag flew at half-staff Tuesday after his death on Monday night, funeral services were held in the assembly hall at 2:30 p.m. and plans were for the college band playing a funeral march to lead the cadet regiment escorting his remains to the train station and for his roommate to go with him.
• Nov. 29, 1912, Battalion: Out of respect for Schiller’s death, the junior class voted to indefinitely postpone their “junior hop,” or dance.
• Jan. 17, 1913, Battalion: Two students die of meningitis a few days apart. A.W. Koons’ death: Jan. 14, 1913, Eagle says classmates were pallbearers and accompanied his body to the train station. (His father had come in to be with him, as with other families in several of these accounts.) In Jan. 15, 1913, Eagle, F.Y. Rawlins’ death on Tuesday is reported and “Classes were dismissed today [Wednesday] out of respect” to Rawlins.
• Dec. 25, 1913, Eagle: Student W.B. Hector killed stepping off train; school is having holiday but some cadets are still there; funeral held at campus hospital, cadet pallbearers carry remains to train and campus residents take up a collection to send some cadets with the body. 

Army regulations AR 600–25 (2019) describe Silver Taps and Echo Taps as Taps played by more than one bugler and say their use is not authorized.

First references to “silver taps” that come up in online news archive searches appear during and after World War I, both at Texas A&M and at military funerals elsewhere in the U.S. In 1919 and the 1920s, “silver taps” was sometimes featured at war memorial ceremonies and Memorial Day and Armistice Day events, including events at A&M: 

• Searches of The Battalion online archives 
• Searches of Newspapers.com (Search for “silver taps,” sort by “Paper Date (Oldest)” and skip past references to bath taps/bar taps, etc.)

• March 13, 1919, Eagle: Ceremony on A&M campus for soldiers killed in World War I. Names of 41 Aggies killed in the war read out “slowly and effectively.” Near the end of the program, “Silver taps were blown.”
• Dec. 15, 1920, San Antonio Evening News: Military funeral includes “silver taps.”
• June 22, 1924, Waco News-Tribune: “silver taps from four cornets” at a Waco sailor’s funeral.
• Oct. 24, 1924, Lewisburg (Pa.) Journal: “silver taps” played at a college homecoming in memory of Bucknell University alumni killed in the war.
• May 30, 1926, Austin American-Statesman: “silver taps played by four trumpets” to be part of a Memorial Day service at the University of Texas.
• May 28, 1927, Austin American-Statesman: “silent benediction with silver taps” at UT Memorial Day event. 
• Nov. 13, 1929, Battalion: Silver Taps played during memorial service for Aggies who died in WWI.

Silver Taps played for student deaths at A&M, 1918 and 1919:

• Feb. 6, 1918, Battalion: (Earliest search result for “silver taps” in Battalion online archives, knowing that records may not be complete and optical character recognition is imperfect.) “Silver taps was sounded by the college band Monday night,” after the death of cadet Roger P. White from pneumonia, likely just a few hours after he passed away at 6:35 p.m. 
• Nov. 14, 1919, Eagle: Cadet R.T. Cooper died of heart failure; the flag was flown at half-staff the next day and “A cadet escort accompanied the remains to the station” that night. Nov. 27, 1919, Battalion: Also Cooper: “The flag hung at half-mast Thursday and Silver Taps was played by the band Wednesday night”; cadets accompanied his remains home to Georgetown.

In the 1920s and early 1930s, references become more common to “silver taps” being played the night of a student’s death:

• May 25, 1927, Battalion: Poem by Emilie Fermier (daughter of E.J. Fermier, head of the mechanical engineering department) describes Silver Taps being played at night for a death.
• Nov. 7, 1928, Battalion: For death of cadet Logan Varley, Silver Taps is played on Sunday night after he died “in the college hospital at 8:45 Sunday evening,” and they send a firing squad and pallbearers to his funeral in Whitesboro.
• 1932 Long Horn yearbook: Poem by C.A. Rechenthin ’32, illustrated with photo of four trumpets, describes Silver Taps at “the eleventh hour.” 

1929: Trumpets Play Three Parts

From the late 1920s into the 1950s, Silver Taps was also played to signify the end of the semester or the school year, sometimes at nighttime events:

• Feb. 20, 1951, Battalion: Bandmaster Col. Richard Dunn says Silver Taps was first played on the night of 1929’s Final Ball.
• June 2, 1934, Eagle:  A group from Bryan heads to campus to listen to Silver Taps at 11 p.m. 
• Dec. 23, 1934, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Description of “over a thousand students” standing at attention in moonlight as six buglers play Home Sweet Home and Silver Taps from top of Administration Building to end the semester.
• May 31, 1940, Eagle: Silver Taps played at midnight (a change from the usual 11 p.m., it says) to close school year; May 30, 1940, Battalion: (same event) Special Silver Taps for end of school year with people gathering in plaza.  
• May 21, 1953, Battalion: Silver Taps to end the school year at midnight after the Final Ball in the Grove.

Feb. 20, 1951, Battalion: Bandmaster Col. Richard Dunn says Silver Taps was first played on the night of 1929’s Final Ball.

Essay describing Silver Taps by Joseph G. Rollins, Jr. ’38: His 1970 memoir Aggies! Y’all Caught That Dam’ Ol’ Rat Yet? prints the essay beginning on p. 70 and says that he wrote it during the ‘37-’38 school year after the death of his friend Will H. Davis. It describes six trumpeters atop the Academic Building (mentioned as “Old Main”) playing to north, west and south; rifle volleys by the fallen cadet’s company; all attending and dispersing in silence.

Shakeup Over Silver Taps Location

The 1939 construction of the “new area” — the 12 dorms and dining hall known today as the Corps Quad — brought a shakeup:

• Nov. 9, 1939, Battalion: “one of the most beautiful and impressive of all A&M traditions.” The first Silver Taps of fall 1939 was held at the Academic Building as usual; students in the new halls couldn’t hear it, but were supposed to turn their lights off and maintain silence. Confusion ensued, and “a good many lights and radios remained on.” Second time, it was played from top of new dining hall, and students who went to the Academic missed hearing it. Suggestion made to preserve the tradition: broadcast Silver Taps from the amplifying system on top of the Academic.
• Nov. 21, 1939, Battalion: Third Silver Taps of the semester is in fact amplified, audible all over campus “and College Station,” and Batt recommends not just silence and lights out but having every organization fall out of their dorms and stand at attention while Silver Taps is played.
• April 9, 1940, Battalion: Anger about a light left on in Ross Hall by a grad student playing dominoes.
• April 11, 1940, Battalion: Stern editorial directed at the “two percent” of students who fail to observe Silver Taps and those who stayed in their dorm playing dominoes. 
• April 30, 1940, Battalion: Attempts to solve the issue included playing Silver Taps in three locations. 
• Sept. 26, 1940, Battalion: A senior class meeting may have finally settled the issue with a vote that Silver Taps should only be played from the Academic Building, and students from anywhere on campus should go there to observe.

Sept. 5, 1944, Battalion: “This one tradition has meant more to many men at Aggieland for its simplicity and stirring emotion than any other tradition on the campus. … While you stand at attention, listening to the notes from the trumpets, a thousand and one thoughts race through your mind. The richness of the tones dig deep into your thoughts, and you closely renew your faith in the traditions of Aggieland.”  The same article goes on to say that the ceremony “is not too old a tradition here on the campus. It was started about the year 1928.” 

Time at which Silver Taps was held: 

News stories from the mid-1940s describe the ceremony as taking place at midnight; in the late 1940s there are references to it being held at 10:15, 10:30 and 11 p.m. It seems to have settled at 10:30 during the 1950s.

• Midnight: Sept. 5, 1944, Battalion and April 19, 1945, Battalion
• 10:15 p.m.: Sept. 19, 1946, Battalion
• 11 p.m.: Oct. 31, 1946, Battalion, Nov. 19, 1946, Battalion, Sept. 7, 1947 Battalion 
• 10:30 p.m.: April 29, 1948, Battalion, May 6, 1948, Battalion, May 17, 1948, Battalion and Nov . 8, 1948, Battalion
• 11 p.m. for a former student and college staffer, F.W. “Fritz” Hensel, Class of 1907: March 16, 1949, Battalion 
• 10:30 p.m.: Feb. 13, 1950, Battalion, Oct. 3, 1950, Battalion for civilian senior; Nov. 13, 1951, Battalion, Jan. 3, 1952, Battalion, April 21, 1953, Battalion, many more following.

No documentation showing that Silver Taps was first held in 1898 for A&M president Lawrence Sullivan Ross (If historical evidence is available, please contact TexasAggie@AggieNetwork.com): 

• Interviews, Feb. 21, 2019, and Oct. 27, 2021, with John A. Adams, Jr. ’73, author of the 2021 book Sul Ross at Texas A&M. Adams said, “To the best of my research, there was no Silver Taps for Sully.” 
• An A&M journalism class assignment from 1953 in Cushing Archives’ “Silver Taps” files, written by Walter “Pat” Kerr ’53, states: “Dr. E.J. Kyle, formerly Dean of Agriculture, remembers that in 1898 Silver Taps was sounded in front of the Main Building.” Story does not mention Ross and gives no other details about 1898.
• Sept. 26, 1967, Battalion: “A&M Archivist Ernest Langford… has documents on file which indicate the ceremony was being observed before the turn of the century.” Today, however, such documents are not filed with Cushing’s “Silver Taps” collection and are not known to TAMU Libraries staff who have done research in this and related areas.

A variant of the claim is that the Ross Volunteers “fired volleys and played Taps” at Ross’s funeral in Waco. It seems likely that many cadets went, but news descriptions of the funeral don’t mention rifle volleys or Taps.

1898 newspaper accounts of services for Ross say A&M cadets were part of his funeral in Waco and a later, daytime memorial in A&M’s assembly hall, but don’t describe an event like Silver Taps. 

• Jan. 4, 1898, Eagle: reports Ross’s death on the previous day and says train is to leave “this morning.”
• Jan. 5, 1898, Eagle: reports Ross laid in state at A&M, eulogy delivered, then A&M cadets escorted Ross’ remains to train depot and some went with family and college officials to Waco; says a committee is planning memorial service for the next Sunday. 
• Jan. 6, 1898, Eagle: Item on p.1 says students came with Ross to Waco; item on p.4 describes funeral events in Waco including procession 2 miles long. 
• Jan. 7, 1898, Marshall Messenger: long version of wire story used in other papers (e.g. Jan. 6, 1898, Austin American-Statesman) describes Waco funeral at length; as Ross’ casket was brought in, “cadets in two ranks, facing each other, received the coffin at the door of the tabernacle and presented arms to the dead soldier.” It says the funeral procession included cadets from Waco and Bryan and describes brief graveside services with “only a few minutes of prayer and song” and no mention of rifles. 
• Jan. 7, 1898, Eagle: description of size of funeral, mentions presence of cadet corps of Waco and Bryan.
• Jan. 13, 1898, Eagle: says memorial services will be next Saturday and Sunday, with a gun fired every half hour on Saturday and the service starting 10 a.m. Sunday. 
• Jan. 15, 1898, Battalion: (a literary magazine at this time, rather than a newspaper) prints speeches and tributes to Ross.
• Jan. 16, 1898, Sunday morning Eagle: Two items on p.4 include “A gun was fired” at half-hour intervals all day before the campus service, and the 10:30 a.m. memorial’s program of events featured speeches, singing and a “cornet solo,” which could have been Taps. 
• Jan. 18, 1898, Eagle: Long description of the campus memorial service, naming speakers including one cadet; mentions music and hymns.

Claims that A&M’s first Silver Taps was held for Ross begin to appear in the 1970s in The Battalion, but also without documentation:

• Sept. 5, 1944, Battalion: Silver Taps “is not too old a tradition here on the campus. It was started about the year 1928.”
• Sept. 26, 1967, Battalion: “No one knows how or when Silver Taps originated.” 
• Aug. 8, 1973, Battalion: Description of Silver Taps doesn’t include history. 
• Aug. 7, 1974, Battalion: Says Silver Taps was held in 1898 and probably before that.
• Aug. 27, 1975, Battalion: “Taps were performed in some form as early as 1898 in front of the Old Main building.”
• Sept. 10, 1975, Battalion: Silver Taps was “first held in 1898.” 
• April 20, 1978, Battalion: “The first Silver Taps was held in 1890 for Lawrence Sullivan Ross.”
• Aug. 31, 1981, Battalion: “Silver Taps originated in 1890 with a 21-gun salute held for Lawrence Sullivan Ross.”
• Sept. 2, 1985, Battalion: “Although the complete history of this tradition remains unknown, it is said that the first Silver Taps was held in 1898 for Lawrence Sulllivan Ross.”
• Aug. 27, 1990, Battalion: History “can be traced to 1898,” was initially held for Ross.
• Similar stories afterward. As is common newspaper practice, many stories appear to pick up and re-use material from the previous year(s).

1950s: Adding Rifle Salute

Rifle volleys may not have been a regular part of Silver Taps until the 1950s. Descriptions of the ceremony from 1944, 1946 and 1948 don’t include rifles: 

• Sept. 5, 1944, Battalion: Description says six trumpeters play at midnight, lights are turned off.
• May 24, 1946, Battalion: Editorial describing Silver Taps for the “new men” on campus has buglers, lights out, no talking, standing at attention.
• Sept. 11, 1948 Battalion: Column on traditions says lights out, six buglers play three times, students return quietly to dorms.

A&M’s senior class in fall 1951 proposed having a Ross Volunteer rifle salute at Silver Taps, described as “the addition of a new feature” to the ceremony. This was quickly adopted and became standard practice:

• Oct. 26, 1951, Battalion: Class of ’52 seniors recommend adding rifles.
• Jan. 4, 1952, Battalion: “honor guard of Ross Volunteers will fire 18-gun-salute” before playing of Silver Taps.
• Oct. 6, 1954, Battalion: Editorial says all students know they are not supposed “to talk or smoke” until after the “three rifle volleys” and Taps is played three times.

Oct. 4, 1950, Battalion: “Seeing the flag flying at half-mast causes most Aggies on the campus to steer off their course and check when ‘Silver Taps’ are scheduled.”

The flagpole is a gift of the Class of 1912; the bronze base with its “Silver Taps Notice” card-holder is a gift of the Class of 1939:

• “Academic Plaza Flagpole,” Aug. 27, 2013, article on The Eagle’s MyAggieNation.com website.

News stories in 1946 and 1950 mention Silver Taps being held simultaneously on the main campus and at the Annex:

• Sept. 19, 1946, Battalion 
• Feb. 2, 1950, Battalion

Changes To Student Body

March 11, 1955, Battalion: Opinion article says “School-wide traditions” would always be honored by all students “whether they wear a uniform or not, such as Silver Taps.”

During the 1960s, reverence for Silver Taps was so strong that students hung blankets over their windows and covered Coke machines so no light showed:

• Oct. 24, 1961, Battalion: Editorial laying out “rules” for Silver Taps says it is “common and acceptable” that if you have to study, you can block the light from your window with “blankets or other devices.” 
• 1968: Covering Coke machines and putting blankets over windows are mentioned in the Silver Taps letter that freshman Don Coward ’72 wrote to his parents: tx.ag/SilverTapsLetter

As A&M began admitting more women, students debated in the pages of the Batt whether “military” honors like Silver Taps would be extended to them, as well as to other types of students, such as part-time students:

• 1963 Battalion issues: Sept. 27; Oct. 23; Nov. 8
• 1964 Battalion issues: Feb. 7; Feb. 19; Feb. 21; Feb. 25; Feb. 28; March 4; March 6; March 13; March 20; April 10
• 1971 Battalion issues: Feb. 4; Feb. 5; Feb. 16 
• Feb. 26, 1971, Battalion: Student Senate votes that Silver Taps belonged to all Aggie students. One comment sums up the majority view: “Are we going to sit here in the Student Senate and decide who is an Aggie and who isn’t?” The only qualification set was that the Aggie must be “currently enrolled.” 

1979: Shift To First Tuesdays

As A&M grew, Silver Taps was held more often, with car crashes becoming the most common cause. Silver Taps in the 1960s and 1970s was still conducted as close “as possible” to the student’s passing, frequently on a Monday or Tuesday after a weekend death. 

Unfortunately, examples are numerous; here are a few:

• Nov. 21, 1967, Battalion
• Jan. 9, 1968, Battalion
• March 26, 1968, Battalion
• Nov. 7, 1972, Battalion: for female student killed in car crash, though story does not say whether this is the first Silver Taps held for a woman
• Nov. 28, 1972, Battalion
• Jan. 24, 1973, Battalion: also for a female student killed in a car crash

Student enrollment rose from 7,046 to 31,331 (1960 to 1979):

• "Overall Historical Enrollment," Texas A&M University Data and Research Services.

In fall 1979, Silver Taps was held four times in nine weeks:

• Battalion articles: Sept. 6 (ceremony Sept. 12); Oct. 1 (ceremony Oct. 2); Oct. 16 (ceremony same day); Nov. 1 (ceremony same day).

Aggie students debated: Would limiting Silver Taps to a once-a-month observance diminish the honor, or preserve it? 

• June 9, 1971, Battalion: Misunderstanding over university memo that appears to say Silver Taps will move to once a month on last Tuesdays. 
• June 16, 1971, Battalion: University clarifies that Silver Taps will still be held as soon after the death as possible.
• Oct. 4, 1974, Battalion: After Silver Taps is held 2 weeks in a row, suggestion is made that it be held on last Mondays; vice president of student services John Koldus says not time to make that change and Silver Taps will keep being held “as close to the funeral of the student” as possible. 
• Nov. 8, 1979, Battalion: Student Senate discusses bill to hold Silver Taps only once a month, on the first Tuesday.
• Nov. 9, 1979, Battalion: Story recaps debate in meeting.
• Nov. 14, 1979, Battalion: A fifth Silver Taps is scheduled.
• Nov. 26, 1979, Battalion: Student Senate plans a student opinion survey on the issue.
• Nov. 27, 1979, Battalion: Editorials for and against proposal.
• Nov. 30, 1979, Battalion: A sixth Silver Taps is scheduled.
• Dec. 5, 1979, Battalion: Poll of students: 52% opposed to change, 48% in favor.
• Dec. 6, 1979, Battalion: On Dec. 5, 1979, Student Senate voted 49-25 to recommend that Silver Taps be held on first Tuesdays. Story has many points, including “50 percent of the parents invited to Silver Taps attend.”

Operating In Anonymity

Another change that seems to have come about in or after the 1970s is the anonymity of the RV firing squad. As late as 1969, the names of the RVs on the squad are published matter-of-factly like other student positions. 

• April 7, 1960, Battalion
• April 21, 1966, Battalion
• April 16, 1969, Battalion

For many years now, both the Ross Volunteers and the buglers who take part in the ceremony have operated anonymously:

• Dec. 2, 1980, Battalion: There’s no reason to think this is a new tradition in 1980, but this story does document the buglers’ anonymity in its description of the Silver Taps bugle team. “They perform in total darkness and stay together by watching the white-gloved hand of their director. Their uniforms are devoid of name plates or anything that would identify them personally, and sometimes listeners are not sure where their music comes from.” 
• Jan. 30, 1996, Battalion: Story mentions buglers’ names are kept secret.

Battalion letters and articles from the 1970s through 1990s indicate that some felt the growing crowds on campus included “spectators” who were coming to watch the pageantry of Silver Taps, not to honor those who had passed.

• Oct. 28, 1969, Battalion: Letter speculates that people are lined up to watch the RVs march, not attend ceremony.
• Oct. 5, 1972, Battalion: Letter complains about talking people lined up along path where RVs enter “so they won’t miss the ‘show.’”
• Sept. 29, 1977, Battalion: Letter complains some in crowd are “gawking at the firing squad.”
• Sept. 7, 1989, Battalion: Letter complains about socializing, says crowd should not be there to “catch a glimpse of the Ross Volunteers or to meet new friends.”
• Nov. 6, 1992, Battalion: Letter says people followed RVs, not respectful, and those who attend are “not spectators.”
• April 7, 1994, Battalion: Letter with 15 signatures angry about a camera flash going off at end of Silver Taps.
• March 7, 1996, Battalion: Letters complaining about noise, talking, camera tripod on bench at Silver Taps.

In September and October 2020, Silver Taps was held virtually due to coronavirus restrictions on gathering sizes:

Sept. 1, 2020, first virtual Silver Taps

• Aug. 17, 2020, Eagle: “Texas A&M to hold virtual Silver Taps this fall” news story from staff reports: “Texas A&M announced Monday it will hold its tradition of Silver Taps virtually on the first Tuesday of the month, when needed, for the fall semester due to COVID-19 safety concerns. The first virtual Silver Taps will be simulcast on Sept. 1 at 10:30 p.m. on KAMU and Texas A&M’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. The September Silver Taps is slated to honor eight Aggies. The ceremony will feature the Ross Volunteers and Corps of Cadets buglers, salute honored families and friends and contain customized tributes to the fallen Aggies.”
• Aug. 31, 2020, Texas A&M Today: “Texas A&M Honor To 8 Aggies Tuesday During Silver Taps,” story by Keith Randall, Texas A&M University Division of Marketing & Communications: “Texas A&M University’s Silver Taps, one of the school’s oldest traditions, will be held virtually for the first time Tuesday to honor eight students who passed away in recent months.”

Oct. 6, 2020, virtual Silver Taps

• Oct. 5, 2020, Texas A&M Today: “Texas A&M To Honor An Aggie Oct. 6 During Silver Taps,” story by Keith Randall, Texas A&M University Division of Marketing & Communications: “Texas A&M University’s Silver Taps, one of the school’s oldest traditions, will be held virtually Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 10:30 p.m. to honor a student who recently passed away.”

Nov. 2, 2020, Silver Taps in person

• Nov. 2, 2020, Eagle: “Texas A&M's Silver Taps ceremony returns to Academic Plaza” by Megan Rodriguez '19. “Texas A&M University’s Silver Taps ceremony will return to the campus’ Academic Plaza today following virtual ceremonies in September and October. Attendees are asked to physically distance from each other and wear masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”