The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps (also known as "The Green Machine") is a World Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps based in Rosemont, Illinois.[1] The Cavaliers were one of the thirteen founding member corps of Drum Corps International and is a seven-time DCI World Champion. The Cavaliers are the only active all-male corps in the activity.
History
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The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps was started in 1948 by Don Warren, Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 111 in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood after being impressed by the Racine Scouts. In 1949, the corps found an additional sponsor in the American Legion Thaddeus Kosciuszko Post 712 of Chicago's Little Warsaw neighborhood. This sponsorship allowed the corps to purchase new uniforms.
The corps entered the world of field competition for the first time in 1950, adopting the name of Chicago Cavaliers and green as their main color. While many corps of the time had only their locale or their sponsor as the name of their corps, the corps wanted a distinctive name, as had the Austin Grenadiers, one of Chicago's top corps of the day. When Cavalier cigarettes had a flashy promotional campaign with much fanfare, the corps members' reaction was unanimous. They adopted the Cavalier name and the logo of the cigarette brand as the corps' logo (the "Standing Man"), they all ordered pins of the Cavalier logo from the cigarette company, and the K-712 corps became the Chicago Cavaliers.
After being an also-ran for their first two seasons of field competition, the Cavaliers won their first contest in 1952. At the Spectacle of Music in South Milwaukee, the Cavaliers were winners in Class B, while all the corps considered to be "big corps" were in Class A. They capped the season by finishing in seventh place at their first American Legion Junior National Championship in New York City. In 1956, the Cavaliers had risen to the number one ranking in the Midwest, but could only manage a third-place finish at VFW Nationals. However, in 1957, after trading victories with the Madison Scouts and the Belleville Black Knights, the Cavaliers won not only both the Illinois State American Legion and VFW titles, but also their first VFW National title in Miami. Their win broke the stranglehold that the East Coast corps had held on the national championships. Although the win was considered by the East Coast corps to be just a fluke, the Cavaliers repeated as VFW champions two years later in Los Angeles.