Military Science Cadets 1895

Military Science cadets

University of Delaware Archives and Records Management
Circa 1895

When Delaware College reopened in 1870, it was required to teach military tactics in order to receive funding under the Morrill Act. Military tactics and drill were taught sporadically over the next decade by an assortment of professors as a secondary duty to their positions. In 1888, Lieutenant George LeRoy Brown, a West Point graduate, was hired as a full-time professor of military science and tactics. Under Brown, funds were raised to build a two-story building that served both as drill hall and gymnasium. This building, which burned down in 1896, was located where Mechanical Hall now stands.