Cavalier's Drum and Bugle Corporations

Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps got their start in 1948 and were originally called the Boy Scout Troop III Drum & Bugle Corps. At this time, they wore the traditional khaki uniform dressed up with shoulder braids and white gloves. The Corps obtained its first outside sponsorship in 1949 in the form of an American Legion Post dedicated to the memory and honor of Revolutionary War hero, Thaddeus Kosciuszko.

The Corps went through 1949 known as the Kosciuszko Post 712 Drum & Bugle Corps and changed their uniform to midnight blue Army issue dress pants and shirts. In 1950, the Cavaliers were just a parade corps with hand-me-down uniforms from the more seasoned Bell Corps that consisted of Eisenhower jackets, shakos & plumes. But, they would soon learn a drill and enter big-time competition. They had taken on the Cavalier name and logo from a new cigarette. The logo was a cavalier with a plumed hat, sword and cape.

The cigarette company, as part of its promotional campaign, had made available a costume jewelry pin of the logo which the Cavaliers would wear on their hats. After a summer full of parades, contests and other appearances in 1950, the Cavalier's treasury was sufficient to allow new uniforms for 1951 that were Kelly Green. The Cavaliers would soon earn the reputation as an up- and-coming corps.

The Spectacle of Music in South Milwaukee was the first regional contest in which the Cavaliers won their class in 1952 and the Iowa Stat Fair would give them a first place ranking. In the nationals in New York, the Cavaliers placed 7th. Then, 1953 brought them their first American Legion State title and an eighth place finish at American Legion Nationals in St. Louis. In 1954, the Corps won their second consecutive Legion State title.

In 1955, the Cavaliers won the VFW State title and finished a strong fifth at American Legion Nationals in Miami. The year 1956 brought another VFW State title and a number one ranking in the Midwest. The Cavaliers won both Legion and VFW State titles for the first time in 1957 as well as its first VFW in Miami. At VFW in New York City in 1958 the Cavaliers were victorious in the Prelims but finished second in the finals to Blessed Sacrament. The year 1959 would be the Corps' best yet.

They ruled the Midwest by again winning both States and much of the local competitions. At Wrigley Field in Las Angeles the Cavaliers wrapped up their second National title. By June 1962, the Cavaliers had not lost a contest in 23 months. They year 1963 completed the transition from a neighborhood corps to the modern corps with an ever-widening reach for personnel. The 1963 Corps not only had members from the suburbs but also from places like Rockford and Milwaukee.

At the close of the 1964 season the Cavaliers had finished the first 5 seasons of the decade with a combined total of 101-20 record with 3 National titles and the longest undefeated streak in modern drum corps history. The Corps won both VFW and American Legion National titles and finishing with a record of 24-2 in 1967. Closing out the decade of the 1960's, the Cavaliers had now won a National title in 6 out of 10 years, and 9 of the previous 12 years.

In the coming turmoil of the 1970's, the Corps struggled for their very existence. No wanted to join the boring old Cavaliers, its staff ran out of good ideas and couldn't keep up with a rapidly changing activity, and it couldn't even execute. In 1974, the Cavaliers faced the possibility of not making the DCI Finals two years in a row, thus losing the opportunity for guaranteed shows the next year, along with prize money.

The corps really was not in a position, financially, to make it without being a DCI corps. But the Cavaliers would eek out an 8th place position to keep them in existence. The 1980s saw the Cavaliers return to the upper echelon of drum and bugle corps. After the lean years of the 1970s, the Cavaliers reasserted themselves: first with their winter guard and, eventually, with the corps as a whole. Starting in 1982, the corps began receiving support from the Village of Rosemont, easing some of the corps' financial strain.

However, the Cavaliers would conclude.