The Hawthorne Caballeros, sponsored by American Legion Post #199 in Hawthorne, New Jersey, is a drum and bugle corps entering their 76th season of competition. They have won the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) World Championship 10 times, the American Legion National Title 16 times, the National Dream Contest 17 times, and the New Jersey State American Legion Title 43 times. They have completed 5 undefeated seasons, consecutively in 1984 and 1985. They have placed in the Top 3 at the DCA World Championship 36 times in 56 appearances.

History

Founding years (1946-1966)

1951 proved to be a pivotal year. The Caballeros went on to win their first Legion National Championship. While in Miami, were offered a trip to Havana by the State Department, which was declined. The Caballeros would win the Legion National Championship in 1953, 1954, and attained a seven year winning streak from 1958 to 1964. By the discontinuing of the American Legion Championship in 1980, the Caballeros had won 15 times. After the 1958 Nationals, the Caballeros accepted another offer to tour Havana.

Transition to DCA

In the late fifties and early sixties, there was a growing consensus among drum corps in rejecting the Legion Nationals as a legitimate championship, primarily because for more years than not, the contest was held in a distant city; generally convenient for Legionnaires attending the convention, but not for drum & bugle corps based in the Northeast. Unfortunately, the drum corps championship was one small event in the overall Legion convention, and most of the top corps, including the Caballeros, often found it difficult to make the considerable expenditure in money and time to attend an event in cities such as Los Angeles, Portland, or New Orleans. The logistics and costs involved in transporting and housing a large corps over such distances was simply far greater than it was worth, often taking a year or longer to recover from financially. In addition to the financial burden on corps in general, the Legion rules were based largely on military concepts and styles. As the war years faded further and further into history and senior corps became increasingly staffed with non-veterans, there was a general feeling that the Legion's rigid competition rules had become outdated and overly restrictive. The Caballeros would continue to attend the Legion National Championships until the final championship in 1980, which the Caballeros won.

DCA years (1966-present)

The corps would be the first to distinguish themselves with a winning streak, winning DCA championships thrice from 1973 to 1975. In 1984 and 1985, the Caballeros completed two undefeated seasons. In 2002, the corps would place outside of the top five for the first time in 34 years. The corps would place its lowest in recent years with the 2005 season. However, the corps would climb back into the top five in subsequent years, but fall back out top five for the 2018 season. In 2020, with the growing threat of COVID-19, the Caballeros would not perform a season for the first time since its founding. In 2021, the Caballeros completed an undefeated championship season. The Caballeros have won ten championships, the most recent being in 2021.

Show summary 1972–2024

Source: