The Infamous Eggnog Riot of 1826
Did you know that too much eggnog can actually get you in serious trouble?
T'was the week before Christmas in 1826, and all through the barracks of West Point — America's elite military academy — the mood was somber.
For the academy's new superintendent, Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, had strictly banned a holiday tradition that the school's young and homesick cadets held most dear...
Their annual boozy eggnog party on Christmas Eve!
According to the U. S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC), this annual celebration was a sacred time when the cadets could "enjoy some homemade eggnog and take a break from the grueling regimen of cadet life."
Prior to Colonel Thayer's arrival at West Point, other superintendents had turned a blind eye to this tradition of booze, bonding and brotherhood.
So when Thayer made the ill-fated decision to rain on their parade by banning the purchase, storing, and consumption of alcohol on campus, several cadets retaliated by planning their version of The Best Christmas Eve Celebration West Point had ever seen —
With lots and lots of boozy eggnog smuggled in for good measure.
Yet, as is often the case when too much liquor, testosterone and youthful rebellion intermix, the celebration soon deteriorated into an Eggnog Riot.
"At least seventy cadets took part in the shenanigans," USAHEC reports. "Resulting in assaults on two officers" and vandalism of their North Barracks.
Not surprisingly, Thayer did not find this amusing in the least. The day after Christmas, he embarked on a warpath to restore order; and fearsome deference for West Point's — and the U.S. Army's — rigid chain of command.
Three months later, after an in-depth investigation, several cadets were court-martialed and kicked out of West Point for good.
So the moral of this true story is...
On one hand, sometimes you've gotta fight for your right to party.
On the other hand, be prepared to deal with the irreversible consequences when you do.
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