Depiction of the party before it escalated into the riots
Sylvanus Thayer (1785 - 1872)
Jefferson Davis ( 1807/8 - 1889) - participant in the Eggnog Riots and future Confederate President
December 24th 1826: Eggnog riot begins
On this day in 1826, the so-called ‘Eggnog Riot’ began at the West Point military academy in New York. Whiskey and rum had recently been banned at the academy by Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, the new superintendent of West Point. Wishing to continue an annual tradition, and reveling in the Christmas spirit, several cadets smuggled large quantities of alcohol into West Point to make eggnog for a party. The party that began in one small room in the barracks quickly escalated out of control, eventually involving one third of West Point’s cadets, and resulted in the assault of two officers and destruction to the North Barracks. After the festivities had been interrupted by the officers, some party-goers, emboldened by their eggnog, decided to arm in defence of the barracks and fighting broke out between the cadets and officers. Christmas morning dawned with many disheveled and still inebriated cadets appearing for training. A month of inquiries, established by Thayer, aimed to punish the ringleaders of the shenanigans and led to the court-martialing of twenty cadets. The trials of the accused lasted three months, featuring the testimonies of future Confederate military leaders Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis in defense of the cadets, and resulted in the dismissal of eleven cadets from the illustrious academy. In fact, the future Confederate President Davis took part in the Eggnog riots, which did not help his reputation for poor behavior at the academy.
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