designated as the governor's mounted bodyguard. Other elite units such as the Boston Fusilers and the New England Guards were organized as well. The Cadets began a friendly competition with these units. In 1786, the Cadets sister unit, the Second Corps of Cadets of Salem was organized. The First and Second Corps of Cadets were both accorded special privileges as the leading units of the volunteer militia. The period between 1815 and 1860 was the heyday of the volunteer militia movement. Every town and city had several companies that proudly paraded in their often ornate uniforms. The Cadets frequently changed their uniforms in order to be the most splendidly clad unit in Boston. Between 1810 and 1860, the uniform changed from white with red facings to black with red facings, back to white and then grey in several variations and hues. Because of the heavy expense associated with purchasing new uniforms only wealthy young men could afford to join the Cadets. As often as the uniforms changed so did the designation of the Cadets. Between 1801 and 1861 the Cadets alternately designated themselves the Boston Independent Cadets, Company of Independent Cadets, Divisionary Company of Cadets and Independent Company of Cadets and some six other variations of these designations. The Cadets, like other volunteer militia units, began attending summer training sessions lasting several days. The Cadets also observed their organization day with a parade on Boston Common in addition to parades on Independence Day, Patriot's Day and other civic holidays. The Cadets often escorted the governor to Harvard commencements. This was appropriate since the Cadets always had a large number of Harvard graduates in their ranks from the colonial days up to World War II. Since the Cadets were organized as an infantry company, a state law passed in February 1861 restricted their strength to 100. The Civil War With the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, the Cadets reoriented their training and concern with uniforms and parades to war service. The Cadets volunteered for state service in May and were assigned to guard the state house and state arsenal. While the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia furnished five regiments as the state's quota under President Lincoln's call for militia, because the Cadets were an independent infantry company they were not assigned to a regiment. Because the command was always made up of well educated and intelligent young men, the Cadets