What Christmas holiday party is complete without the omnipresent eggnog? Usually a
very soothing and relaxing cocktail that warms the spirits and brings some holiday nostalgia and familiarity. It seems astounding that it could be the cause of a full scale riot.
There are a few more ingredients that led to this particular riot, including: the venerated
establishment of West Point, the first president of the confederacy Jefferson Davis, teenage angst, a Christmas prohibition of liquor, access to weapons, poorly laid out dormitories, an outnumbered officer staff, and roughly 3 gallons of liquor.
In 1826 West Point had revoked its previous allowances for the consumption of alcohol
on two holidays, The Fourth of July and Christmas. Sylvanus Thayer, the leading officer of the school, had found the previous Fourth of July to be slightly too celebratory due the amount of unacceptable behavior, and student drunkenness. So, no alcohol on Christmas. This of course wouldn’t be a story if the students had abided by this prohibition.
By Christmas Eve, a few of the cadets had been able to barter for spirits from the
nearby Benny Havens' Tavern. In all they procured roughly two gallons of whiskey, and another of rum. The tavern would accept shoes and blankets from cadets as payment for the illicit liquor, and some of their delicious mutton. To complete the eggnog recipe they gathered hatfulls of eggs, and gallons of milk from the nearby farms. With the ingredients in hand, and stolen firewood from the South Baracks, some cadets from the North Baracks, including Jefferson Davis, went to their rooms to make preparations.
Beginning around 10:00 p.m. in room No.28 with around nine cadets, and another
seven or so in room No.5, things remained fairly restrained as the eggnog stayed warm on their in-room fireplaces. Then the singing started. A cadet on patrol around 2:00 a.m. verbally reprimanded those singing in room No.5, including Davis, but things really began to turn chaotic around 4:00.
As the noises became louder from room No.28, the main officer in charge of the North
Baracks, Captain Ethan Allen Hitchcock, went to investigate. Upon his arrival, he found several incredibly intoxicated students, some of whom tried to hide themselves under bedding sheets, and quietly attempted to slide out of the room. One of these cadets under a sheet repeatedly refused to remove his cover, and even when he did, he kept his cap over his face. Hitchcock forcibly removed the cap, delivered his reprimand, and then left to find the only other officer on duty, Lieutenant William A. Thornton.
Cadet Billy Murdoch had taken the physical removal of the hat of another cadet as a
grave injustice, and essentially an act of war. Calling on his fellow classmates, he entreated
them to retrieve their muskets and bayonets to go kill Hitchcock. The next two hours were
pure chaos. As the initial few cadets grew in number, and in states of inebriation. Sword
wielding students charged drunkenly through the halls, a drum and fife band began to play, windows were broken out, Lieutenant Thornton was knocked unconscious with a piece of firewood, and eventually shots began to be heard.
Hitchcock eventually tried to lock himself in his room to escape the angry mob of
cadets. They pounded the door, and even fired a pistol through it. Eventually he opened the door to give yet another reprimand, but the offenders ran away giggling. While attempting to shout an order to a patrolling sentinel, Hitchcock was misinterpreted as saying “Get the bombardiers…” The cadets of the North Baracks prepared for the onslaught of the artillery they thought to be coming to quell them.
Finally the revel call came, as did Major William Worth, the commandant. The sunlight
and the arrival of Worth, quelled the riot. The morning formations were less than upright, with still inebriated, extremely hungover, and disheveled cadets. Some cadets skipped the
formations all together and remained drinking in their rooms.
After the smoke had settled, and the broken glass replaced, roughly 100 cadets were
said to have been involved. Nineteen cadets, and one enlisted soldier were court-martialed, but Jefferson Davis was not. The riot had even longer lasting repercussions that can be seen today. The layouts of the modern dormitories do not allow for cadets to between other floors without first going outside. Most modern cadets of West Point, including an old school friend of mine have not heard of this event, possibly because the academy doesn’t want to give them any ideas.
There are many pages written and testimonies given about this night, and I do
encourage anyone interested to dive into more of the details. Personally I find it hilarious.
Have a great holiday season, enjoy your eggnog responsibly, and try not to start a riot.
By Chance Cole
Whistling Andy Distillery
