During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard the moan of a soldier who lay
mortally wounded on the field. Not knowing if it was a Union or
Confederate soldier, the captain decided to risk his life and bring the
stricken man back for medical attention.

Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the captain reached the
stricken soldier and began pulling him toward his encampment. When the
captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was actually a
Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead.

The captain lit a lantern. Suddenly, he caught his breath and went numb
with shock. In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his son.
The boy had been studying music in the South when the war broke out.

Without telling his father, he enlisted in the Confederate Army. The
following morning, heartbroken, the father asked permission of his
superiors to give his son a full military burial despite his enemy status. His
request was partially granted. The captain had asked if he could have a group
of Army band members play a funeral dirge for the son at the funeral.

That request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate. Out of
respect for the father, they did say they could give him one musician. The
captain chose a bugler. He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes
he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of his dead son's uniform.