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July 30, 2009

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The Delaware National Guard was formed on August 31, 1655. The commissary (someone appointed to do a particular task) rode up and down the length of the colony calling the settlers to take up arms and defend the colony against the Dutch force that was about to attack Fort Christina, the present site of Wilmington. The area now known as the State of Delaware was a Swedish colony. This colony was called the "Three Lower Counties" of the William Penn domain.

Earlier, the Swedes had relied entirely on professional soldiers to protect the colony and, except for former soldiers who had remained as colonists, the citizens had no preparation for the military duties they were suddenly called upon to perform. The colonists' lack of military training allowed the Dutch to easily defeat the settlers. However, the occasion is significant as the first time in Delaware that the citizen-militia was called on for military service.

When the State of Delaware was established, there were few provisions for peacetime training. Even when pirate raids threatened the safety of coastal towns on the Delaware, Quaker opposition to warlike activities dominated the combined legislature of Pennsylvania and Delaware and prevented any action.

However, citizens of the "Three Lower Counties" took matters into their own hands and volunteered for additional training. It was, in large measure, the desire of Delawareans for an effective trained militia that eventually resulted in the existence of Delaware as a separate state.

According to English law, able-bodied males (aged 18 to 45) were organized into units (called common militia) based on the geographical location of their homes. Among the men liable for military service in the colonial wars, there were some who saw the need for additional training if they were to be effective against professional French troops and their Indian allies. Many who saw this need volunteered to train beyond the minimum requirements of the militia law.

Because they volunteered for extra training, and also because they volunteered to serve outside their own colonies (the common militia could only be called out if an enemy actually invaded the colony), these troops became known as volunteer militia, or Volunteers. Sometimes they were called uniformed militia to distinguish them from the common militia, which did not wear uniforms.

Besides this voluntary training, the settlers had to have training according to English law to provide for the nation's defense. The soldiers of the full-time army were fined if they did not attend training. The volunteer army was for the defense of the state, as it is still today. It was these volunteers who carried Delaware's colors in the five pre-revolutionary wars. It is from these early Delaware volunteer militia units that our modern Delaware National Guard is descended.

Delaware Military History

The Delaware Military Heritage and Education Foundation Inc. collects and preserves material evidence associated with Delaware related military units and individuals of the uniformed services of the State and the United States, and interprets it so that coming generations will understand the values of courage, loyalty and responsibility that inspire such service. For more information about how you can get involved visit the Delaware Military Heritage and Education Foundation's website.