A Brief History
On December 25, 1826, cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point cracked the annals of history with an Eggnog Riot!
Digging Deeper
Digging deeper, we find the long gray line of cadets leading their disciplined life of study in a controlled environment with distractions like alcoholic beverages prohibited. Fighting, gambling, cursing, all the things young men pursue with gusto at other colleges were forbidden there, even back then.
Boys being boys, soldiers being soldiers, the cadets were upset to be strictly limited to non-alcoholic eggnog for their Christmas party, and of course they decided to do something about it!
At least a couple different cadets went about obtaining a few gallons of whiskey to spike the eggnog, and late at night on Christmas eve the drinking started, with the forbidden drunkenness following shortly behind.
By the time the clock passed midnight, the trouble started as well. For the rest of Christmas Day, disorder was the order of the day, with fights, vandalism, and open defiance of U.S. Army officers trying to keep order. By the time it was over, many windows were broken and much property was damaged.
West Point being what it is, the authorities were not going to let this insubordination go easy, and of the 70 or so participants in the riot 20 cadets were court-martialed, all of whom were found guilty. Eighteen of the cadets were expelled, although some were reinstated, and an enlisted soldier was also court-martialed and given 6 months of hard labor. (He was on guard duty and allowed cadets to bring the whiskey onto the academy.)
It was not a holly jolly Christmas that year!
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Historical Evidence
For a book on the incident, please read…
Agnew, James B. Eggnog riot: The Christmas mutiny at West Point. Presidio Press, 1979.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="912 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=912">34 Comments
mmmm eggnog sounds good right now
I always wondered why people at partys would say “I think they had too much eggnog” because as a kid drinking it, i obviously would be fine drinking it without any alcohol in it. so this now makes sense
Eww..eggnog…how gross. never was a fan of it. Glad to know that they put alcohol in it. does make more sense now.
It definitely wasn’t a “holly jolly Christmas” for those cadets that year!
I was unaware they put alcohol in this drink, Interesting.
I used to be a bartender & I never new they put alcohol in these drinks. Interesting article now because of jt
I’ve personally never had eggnog. I believe I should try it come this holiday season! Some like it, others despise it.
That made me laugh, I can imagine the mayhem that a group of rowdy cadets could cause. I think they may have went a little overboard.
I have never had eggnog, this article has got me interesting in trying it
This article make me laugh. People can be so stupid
Boys will be boys! — DAVID WARDLE
I have also never tried eggnog and I don’t think that I would go to such extremes to get some and throw my future career down the toilet as well.
Wow, that sounded like one heck of a riot.
I wonder how things would have been different if they would have been allowed to have alcohol to begin with.
That sounded like an extreme Christmas! I also wonder if the cadets would have gone that crazy if they had just been allowed to have the alcoholic eggnog at the beginning.
The West Point Eggnog Riot is an extreme depiction of how both alcohol and prohibition can evoke chaos. Somewhat a shame that an event like this occurred on Christmas.
That sounded like a Christmas no one will forget! I never knew about this event.
Well it sounds like they had a good time that Christmas. That is until the whiskey wore off!
S.M.
That’s a very stern punishment, to kick several cadets out, considering the minor action they did. If they didn’t break windows, I wouldn’t see any reason to kick them out.
N.W.
All that for wiskey! Choices certainly have consequences. GW
I have a friend who goes to West Point and this does not surprise me. She has told me stories about how strict the rules are there. A military academy is definitely very different than your typical university. I know one of the big things/traditions that they do now is smoking cigars at big dinners, especially ones for holidays.
Who would have known spiked eggnog could cause so much trouble?
It is astonishing the lengths people will go to get what they want. I guess this is what the generations have and will continue to be, maybe worse.
Spiked egg nog sounds like so much more fun than it was.
Its amazing that the enlisted solder let in the cadets and that such a riot broke out the next day.
I find it crazy how much trouble they got in for a little fun, especially the soldier who was on guard duty. You would think he would let something like that happen
I love egg nog and all but I don’t know if is would this much of a hassle
They boys shouldn’t have gone to the military academy if they didn’t want to follow the rules. There actions had major consequences.
I understand that the military academy is extremely strict, but it surprises me how much trouble the boys got into.
It seems like they could have gotten away with it but instead completely couldn’t handle this eggnog and whisky combination.
Sounds like those cadets couldn’t handle their whiskey, but I
think it’s funny the guard just let them bring it into West Point.
This is awesome. Nothing wrong with the soldiers wanting to have a little fun during the holidays.
Of course the enlisted soldier gets the hard labor…wouldn’t want the officer to work too hard! 🙂 I’m surprised that a tradition wasn’t started from this debacle among the cadets. Servicemen and women love to start traditions and some also love to drink. Here were be a great reason to do both!
What a fun story. Even thought there were consequences for the cadets, I’m glad they were able to have fun. I feel sorry for the enlisted soldier. I guess it wasn’t an “egg”cellent idea!