The Crusader March

Only those who receive certain degrees in Masonry may fully appreciate the meaning of this composition, which was written shortly after Sousa was 'Knighted' in Columbia Commandery No. 2, Knights Templar, Washington, D.C. The Knights Templar is theoretically derived from the Crusades, and a number of their secret rituals and ceremonies relate to the period when the Crusaders were battling the Turks. Therefore the Knights Templar organization itself is probably the 'Crusader,' unless Sousa had some individual in mind whose identity has escaped historians.