The Eggnog Riot
To keep
in the holiday spirit, here is something somewhat Christmassy.
Today’s
post is about the Eggnog riot, something that happened on Christmas
eve and day back in 1826.
At the
West Point military academy’s barracks, cadets were told that their
eggnog was to be alcohol free. Possession of alcohol was against the
rules, with the consequence of being expelled. Of course, alcohol was
smuggled in anyway, into the north barracks.
In the
late hours of Christmas Eve into the early morning of Christmas,
there were 9 cadets that were found partying after being rowdy and
drunk. Captain Ethan Allen Hitchcock heard the voices, and went to
the room where the cadets were, ordering them to leave. Two of the
cadets, James Berrien and Billy Murdock, responded negatively, with
Murdock wanting to organize a riot against Captain Hitchcock.
Cadets
knocked on Hitchcock’s door when he went to bed, though the three
times that he went to check, no-one was there. He saw Jefferson
Davis, a cadet at the time, go to another room where 13 more cadets
were partying.
With
Hitchcock trying to stop the cadets from their rambunctious partying,
they ended up becoming more rowdy, with several windows being broken.
When reveille played in the morning, the cadets from the north
barracks were hungover, point blank. Some were still drinking, and
others appeared in formation while still drunk. Cadets from the south
barracks were appalled at the condition of the place, since they were
not drunk and well rested.
To keep
a long story short, six cadets resigned, 19 court marshaled, and
others were confined for a month.
Jefferson
Davis would later get malaria.
