In 1844 Professor Albert Lea led a successful move to have the trustees prescribe uniforms for both students and faculty of the university and to have the institution operate in a military fashion. Military instruction really began when John McMillan Brooks, a student, organized a military company of 30 or 40 students in the fall of 1860. When the catalog for 1860–61 was published, Brooks (with the word student in brackets after his name) was listed as “Instructor in Military Tactics.” He thus became the first commandant of the university. Brooks left the university to join the confederate army and rose to the rank of captain. In 1870, when military instruction was required of all cadets, the instruction was under the direction of Professor Nicholson. In 1871 the US War Department assigned the first regular army officer, Lt. Thomas T. Thornburgh, to the university as commandant of cadets.