🎄 What was the Christmas Eggnog Riot?

Here’s a short & sweet newsletter about eggnog for some light Christmas reading.

Eggnog is a holiday drink made with milk, cream, sugar, egg yolk, and whipped egg white. It often has whiskey or rum mixed in as well.

Early Americans would engage in a sort of eggnog pub crawl around the New Year, visiting each others' houses for generous helpings of whiskey-infused eggnog until they couldn’t walk anymore.

George Washington loved eggnog - especially with some sherry, brandy, and whiskey mixed in. You can find his famous recipe here.

Eggnog played a key part in the topic of today’s newsletter: the Great Eggnog Riot of 1826.

The riot took place at West Point, the U.S. military academy in upstate New York.

Prior to 1826, West Point cadets had been allowed to drink on Christmas and the Fourth of July.

After a new commander decided to ban alcohol on Christmas 1826, the cadets decided to take matters into their own hands.

They went to nearby taverns and secured over 10 gallons of rum & whiskey.

Then, they mixed it into the eggnog and got roaringly drunk.

Captain Allen Hitchcock, who had watch over the students, interrupted cadets who were partying in one of their dorm rooms.

After heated words between him and the revelers, Hitchcock left the room to investigate another party.

One of the cadets then shouted:

The party slowed down, but not after they’d done over $5,000 worth of damage to the campus.

Here's a great quote from the Wikipedia page for the event:

Up to 90 of West Point’s 260 cadets had been involved in the mutiny.

The school’s leaders decided to punish the perpetrators, potentially expelling the worst offenders.

During the court of inquiry that followed the next month, 167 witnesses testified about the events of that night.

The trials of the worst offenders - the cadets charged with smuggling the whisky or starting the riot - began in late January and ran until early March.

Many of the men who were involved in the riot would go on to play important roles in American history.

Of the men who were charged, two would go on to become Confederate generals during the Civil War.

One would become a Supreme Court Justice, while one of the men who was expelled would become Secretary of State of the Republic of Texas in 1841.

And one of the most famous rioters was Jefferson Davis, who would go on to become the President of the Confederate States of America after the Confederacy declared independence from the United States. (see below)

I have to admit: I had some eggnog while writing this newsletter.

Now, have a mug yourself and enjoy your Christmas! 🎅

ART OF THE DAY

“Christmas Market at Am Hof Square in Vienna” by Georg Janny (1864-1935).