A educatee staggers back to his dorm after a previous night tavern visit with admirer , hoping to cabbage in unnoticed . If catch , he ’ll be arrested on the place — again .
But as he aims for campus , a massive ravine as deep as a five - tale building materialize out of seemingly nowhere and he latch on out of mass . His friends yell blindly into the darkness , urging him toanswer if he ’s not dead . As luck — and booze — would have it , he does n’t really feel a thing .
It was n’t the first sentence Jefferson Davis — West Point form of 1828 graduate and future president of the Confederacy — had slip away from his post at the military academy to get inebriated , but itwasthe first time the plan nigh cease him .
Not long after Davis ' unplanned spelunking trip , talking turn to throwing an epic , eggnog - fueled Christmas Eve political party , and course , he was all in .
Let the Eggnog Riot Begin
On Christmas Eve 1826 , at least70 cadetsgot rip - roarin ' sot on eggnog , assaulted two officers and nearly destruct the North Barracks . They broke window , drop article of furniture , shatter plate and eventore banisters from stairway . Their noisy antics drew the attention of officers assigned to defend against such shenanigans . A subsequent surprise review of student quarters revealed a " Where ’s Waldo " of intoxicated cadet . There were sloshed cadets poorly hide under blankets and behind hat .
And in the minute that followed , the booze made them brave , so much so that they grabbed weapons and threatened to kill their Superior . One officer was threatened with a steel and gain with a piece of wood ; another was shoot at .
Alcohol was stringently forbiddenat West Point in the other 1820s . The military academy , stationed on the west bank of the Hudson River was , after all , run by Colonel Sylvanus Thayer , an austere and inexorable superintendent flex on instill subject . If a scholar were capture with alcohol , or simply under the influence of alcoholic drink , expulsion and arrest were n’t far behind . Plus , West Point , just 50 miles ( 80.5 kilometers ) north of New York City , had its reputation to regard .
Maintaining Military Order
When West Point take on its first class in 1802 , a simple 10 student assembled in a handful of haphazard buildings . New students interested in joining the social rank were admit — at any time throughout the year — with few questions . Then total the War of 1812 , and Congress , thirsty for military success , installed Thayerto whip the academy into soma .
By 1826 , Thayer had done just as he was commanded .
Until Christmas Eve , that is . That ’s when students break out their hidden stash of liquor : about four gallon of the bum whisky they could find . They ’d lugged it across the Hudson River and bribe a safeguard to add it onto campus , where they hid it among their personal effects . Imagine : whisky in boots , coat pocket , under mattresses and blankets , until the moment it was hastily mixed with eggs , Milk River and a few spices to become eggnog — the Colonial equivalent of a Jaeger Bomb . ( Watch the video below for an estimate of what might ’ve been in the premix . )
" There are a lot of different theories as to how eggnog fare about , but there ’s a solid consensus that Medieval Europe played a large purpose in its founding , " say Cyrus Roepers ofArousing Appetites , a food web log focalise on embolden traditional recipes from culinary art all over the world . " Many believe that eggnog is an outgrowth of an old boozing address posset , which is red-hot milk curdled with vino or brandy , and some added spice . "
in the first place , says Roepers , posset was the choose crapulence of the Old World ’s 1 percenters . But it did n’t take long before this drinkable of wealthy nobility became popular with the average person and hopped continent . As non - Lord in the New World began owning land and livestock , they initiate using readily useable ingredients , like milk , eggs and hard liquor , to whip up their own grog .
" Brandy and wine-colored remained a European luxury , however , so Americans replaced it with the much more uncommitted , cheaper rum , thanks to their Caribbean neighbour , " says Roepers .
And , as West Point cadets discovered , whiskeywas an acceptable substitute , too .
AKA the Grog Mutiny
As the Christmas Eve 1826 eggnog riot elongate into Christmas morning , the revelry escalated . Students who were n’t busy pull down the barracks or clenched fist - fighting , armed themselves with guns and swords in preparedness for a battle with West Point ’s artillery men , who were wait to be mobilize in an attempt to subdue them .
But then the eggnog ’s force began to wear off . forenoon roll call revealed a corp astonishing to line up , with many of the 260 cadets somewhere along the eggnog continuum of well - oiled to full - on hungover .
Thayer elected to censure only the most destructive reveler , and neither Jefferson Davis nor his compatriot , thefuture oecumenical Robert E. Lee , were among them . In the end , 19 cadets were rout out .
No Logos on whether they ever drink eggnog again .
