The Eggnog Riot
As you awake suddenly you can hear a loud thud echoing above you. Rise to your feet you can hear yelling and screaming coming from floors both above and below, with the smashing of furniture and dishes being heard all around. Rushing to put on your coat and boots you can only wonder what eggnog fueled ruckus you are about to witness.
Artists rendition of what West Point looked like in 1826. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
West Points Early Days
When West Point opened in 1802 it was not the revered institution it is known as today. Originally it was a school in disarray that only had three professors who taught in decrepit shacks and barely graduated ten students a year. Admissions standards were anything but a challenge and students would be admitted at any point during the year. However after Congress witnessed the United States militaries numerous blunders in the War of 1812 they began to pump more funds into the academy.
Portrait of Colonel Sylvanus Thayer. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
In 1817 Congress appointed Colonel Sylvanus Thayer to be head of the school and it seems they made the right decision as he came to be known as “The Father of West Point”. Thayer was a strict disciplinarian who had graduated from the academy himself and saw it for what it could be, and under his strict leadership and guidance he was able to transform the academy into a respectable institution. He banned many activities such as playing cards and using tobacco, even banning the reading of novels. Despite his tough regulations he was lenient at times and would turn a blind eye to cadets drinking alcohol on special occasions like the Fourth of July and Christmas. That leniency would come to an end however after a July Fourth celebration in 1825 when cadets held a “snake dance” and lifted the school’s commandant, William Worth, onto their shoulders and carried him to their barracks. The possession of “any spirituous or intoxicating liquor” was banned and any cadet caught with it would be court martialed. This caused one of the countries largest celebrations, the United States of America’s 50th birthday, to be a dry one at West Point. Many cadets became inflamed and wanted to rebel against the policy, now vowing that their traditional Christmas party involving homemade eggnog and alcohol would not be skipped under any circumstances.
Eggnog is a much more tame drink today than it was many years ago; originally it consisted more of alcohol than it did milk, cream, sugar and spices as we know it today. In colonial times it was a popular drink that many used to “get in the holiday spirit”, and as such it was a big part of West Points annual Christmas tradition.
One notable cadet that took part in the festivities was Jefferson Davis, the later president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Ever since Davis joined West Point he was known as a trouble maker and showed a fondness for alcohol. In his first year there Davis was caught at the tavern just off the schools campus and was court martialed, but was saved from expulsion due to his prior good conduct. Davis was almost caught in the tavern again and ran back to the academy when he got word that a superior was en route to arrest him. However he was a little too hasty, and a bit drunk, and fell down a 60 foot ravine which forced him to spend several weeks in the hospital. With stories like this it is no surprise that Davis was all for smuggling booze into the school.
Benny Haven’s Tavern. Courtesy of Flickr.
To prepare for the tradition cadets snuck in gallons of whiskey, rum, brandy, and different types of wine that were purchased from the local grog shop, Benny Haven’s Tavern. Benny Havens is infamous in West Point history as it is the only bar close by that would directly serve students, allowing them to trade anything from shoes to blankets for alcohol though they would not accept school uniforms. It is still immortalized in a mural on one of the mess hall walls at the academy today. Unfortunately for the cadets Benny Haven’s would be too expensive for the amount of alcohol they required. In order to obtain the needed booze three cadets snuck across the Hudson River in a boat to buy whiskey from a tavern on the opposite bank. When they returned to the dock they found an enlisted soldier standing guard but paid him 35 cents to look the other way as they unloaded the several gallons of whiskey they had purchased. Everything was now set for the annual party.
Whiskey gallon crock, likely similar to what the cadets would have bought. Courtesy of WorthPoint.
Riot
On the night of the riot Captain Ethan Allen Hitchcock was the superior officer in charge of the North Barracks where the party was to be held. Colonel Thayer warned him the day before that the cadets may try to go on with their Christmas tradition but all was quiet when Hitchcock went to bed around midnight. In the early morning of December 25, 1826 the cadets began their festivities, mixing copious amounts of alcohol with homemade eggnog. At around 4AM the noise from the partying cadets awoke Hitchcock causing him to leave his room and investigate the halls “to ascertain if there was any disorder in the barrack.” Upstairs he found six or seven cadets who were clearly drunk and ordered them to go to bed, he then went to leave but before he could he heard loud noises coming from an adjoining dorm room. He found two drunk cadets trying to hide under a blanket and another in the opposite bed trying to hide his face with a hat. Hitchcock demanded the cadet tell him his identity but the cadet refused and began cussing at him. After the student calmed down Hitchcock left but the others were enraged at the “party pooper” and shouted to the others “Get your dirks and bayonets...and pistols if you have them. Before this night is over, Hitchcock will be dead!”
Portrait of Ethan Allen Hitchcock, this was taken sometime between 1851-1860. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
As Hitchcock returned to his room he heard an even rowdier party happening on the floor below and went to investigate. He eventually found 13 cadets in barracks room no. 5, in a poor bit of timing just as Hitchckock arrived Davis burst through the door to warn them to “Put away the grog, Captain Hitchcock is coming!” Of course the captain was already there and subsequently placed Davis under arrest and sent him to his room. He then read the Riot Act to the other cadets, declaring that any group of 12 or more unlawfully assembled was to be dispersed, and ordered them to do so.
The cadets became even more angered at the captain for ruining their party and dozens of them began running through the halls with knives, swords, and muskets. Lieutenant Thorton, another superior officer trying to break up the riot, was threatened with a sword before having a chunk of wood thrown at him, knocking him to the ground. One of the cadets even fired a pistol as Hitchcock attempted to break down a barricaded door that had partying cadets behind it, luckily another cadet smacked the shooter and the bullet went harmlessly into the door jamb. Hitchcock now realized that he needed backup and found a cadet relief sentinel and told him to “bring the ‘com here”. Hitchcock meant the Commandant of Cadets but a rumor spread among the partiers that he was summoning the “bombardiers”, the nickname given to the artillery men that were also stationed at the academy. The cadets hated the artillery men and were appalled that Hitchcock would call on them to deal with his rowdy pupils. They saw it as an offense to their integrity so they began taking up arms to defend themselves against the oncoming forces. Now the riot really started as cadets hurled rocks at windows and used focused their anger on ransacking the building. The artillery men never came, instead Commandant of Cadets William Worth showed up and with his authority the cadets laid down their arms and went to bed. Davis did not take part in this riot as he had either passed out in his room or had enough common sense not to leave it.
Commandant William Worth. Courtesy of Matthew B. Brady.
Aftermath
Reveille sounded at 6:05 Christmas morning. The cadets in the South Barracks awoke and lined up outside with military discipline, the ones in the North Barracks however slowly lumbered out, nursing quite the hangover. Their dormitory was littered with broken windows, destroyed furniture, banisters ripped from stairwells, and smashed ceramic dishes. Close to one-third of the academy’s 260 cadets were involved in what came to be known as the “Eggnog Riot”. The staff knew they couldn’t expel so many cadets as it would cripple the still young academy. Instead they placed 22 of those most responsible for the riot, including Davis, under house arrest the day after Christmas. Court martial proceedings against 19 cadets and one soldier began on January 26, 1827. Davis was spared, likely due to his compliance to Hitchcocks original orders, but he spent 6 weeks under house arrest before being released. For over a month the tribunal made up of professors and soldiers heard testimony from 167 witnesses, including cadet Robert E. Lee who did not take part in the ruckus but testified in defense of his fellow students. The court-martial would last until mid-March finding all 19 cadets guilty and immediately dismissing 11 of them. Out of that 11, only 5 would go on to graduate. There were 53 other cadets that received more minor punishments.
The memory of the Eggnog Riot went on to influence the design of the school as it expanded. Dorm hallways became narrower as a form of crowd control. Cadets were unable to go to different floors of a building without walking outside, so it would be easier to spot any nefarious activity. The riot itself was a relatively small event but it was the driving force for many decisions that were made in subsequent years.
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Personal Thoughts
I have a friend that goes to West Point and they just recently had their annual Christmas party and it looked like a good time. Now I don’t know if there was eggnog present as I have not asked but I would say it was quite a bit more tame than the one in 1826.
Sources
https://www.history.com/news/when-eggnog-sparked-a-riot-at-west-point
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/egg-nog-its-all-fun-and-games-until-someone-starts-a-holiday-riot-180949281/
https://www.army.mil/article/49823/the_eggnog_riot
https://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/eggnog-riot.htm
