“The Victors”: The Story Behind Michigan’s Iconic Fight Song

Photo: Louis Elbel conducting the Michigan Marching Band in “The Victors,” 1958. Source: Wikipedia

The thunderous march of “The Victors” has become one of college football’s most recognizable sounds for more than a century, but its composition traces back to a frustrated U-M student with its first performance under the baton of John Philip Sousa.

However, the University of Michigan’s famous fight song began not in Ann Arbor, but in the stands of Chicago’s Stagg Field in November 1898.

That Thanksgiving Day, Michigan pulled off a dramatic 12–11 victory over the University of Chicago, capping an undefeated season and securing its first Western Conference football championship. Among the jubilant fans was Louis Elbel, a U-M music student, who joined the celebrations in the streets. Yet as the night wore on, he felt the band lacked a proper anthem worthy of such a moment.

“Somewhere along the line, my walk turned into a march, and a band got to singing in my head, a sort of victory sound,” Elbel later recalled in The Michigan Alumnus. “And right there the refrain of the ‘Victors’ came to me. Not only the music, but the words ‘Hail to the Victors Valiant!’ and ‘Hail to the conqu’ring heroes!’”

That night, at his sister’s house in Englewood, Elbel began writing the music and lyrics. He finished the composition the next day on the train back to Ann Arbor. By the spring of 1899, with help from a Detroit arranger, he had created a full score for more than 20 instruments.

Sousa’s Seal of Approval

Elbel saw his chance to debut the piece when John Philip Sousa, the famed “March King,” brought his band to Ann Arbor in April 1899. Elbel summoned his courage to approach Sousa before the concert and handed him a fresh copy of the march, explaining that he was a student and would be grateful if the bandleader would consider performing “The Victors,” a Michigan composition.

Sousa obliged, and a few days later his band performed The Victors in concert. The song quickly caught on across campus, and Sousa himself reportedly called it “the best college march ever written.”

From Challenge to Tradition

Although the song briefly fell out of favor after Michigan left the Western Conference in 1907,  its line “champions of the West” deemed inaccurate, students revived it after U-M rejoined the league in 1917. From then on, The Victors became inseparable from Michigan tradition.

It has since been performed at athletic contests, commencements, and even at the White House. President Gerald Ford, a Michigan alum, famously requested it in place of “Hail to the Chief.”

More than 125 years after Elbel first marched through the streets of Chicago with music in his head, the refrain still resounds:

“Hail! to the victors valiant, Hail! to the conqu’ring heroes, Hail! Hail! to Michigan, the champions of the West.”

Sources:

“It Happened At Michigan — The story behind U-M’s fight song,” By Genevieve Monsma, The University Record

“Michigan Fight Song,” MGoBlue.Com

“The Victors,” Wikipedia.Org