WEBVTT - How Did the Eggnog Riot Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here these days egg nog

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<v Speaker 1>is a drink for all holiday revelers, with recipes and

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<v Speaker 1>store bought varieties to fit every need. Dairy or non sugary,

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<v Speaker 1>and flavored like peppermint, moco or a little more plain,

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<v Speaker 1>alcoholic or not. Before the invention of refrigeration technology around

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<v Speaker 1>the turn of the twentieth century, including alcohol would have

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<v Speaker 1>helped make it safer to drink the raw eggs and

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<v Speaker 1>milk involved in making eggnog. But of course that's not

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<v Speaker 1>the only reason that people drink alcohol, and hey, drink responsibly.

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<v Speaker 1>Not only is that good advice, it's also the moral

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<v Speaker 1>of this episode, because on Christmas Eve of eighteen six,

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<v Speaker 1>at least seventy West Point cadets, including future Confederate President

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<v Speaker 1>Jefferson Davis and his future General Robert E. Lee, got

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<v Speaker 1>ripped roaring drunk on prohibit the alcoholic eggnog, assaulted to officers,

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<v Speaker 1>and nearly destroyed the North Barracks. They broke windows, through furniture,

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<v Speaker 1>shattered plates, and tore banisters from stairways. Their noisy antics

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<v Speaker 1>drew the attention of the officers assigned to guard against

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<v Speaker 1>just such shenanigans. A subsequent surprise inspection of student quarters

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<v Speaker 1>revealed a veritable Where's waldo of drunk cadets, poorly hidden

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<v Speaker 1>under blankets and behind hats, and in the hours that followed,

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<v Speaker 1>the booze made them brave and reckless, so much so

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<v Speaker 1>that they grabbed weapons and threatened to fight back against

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<v Speaker 1>any superior who tried to identify them, let alone rain

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<v Speaker 1>them in. Alcohol was strictly forbidden at West Point in

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<v Speaker 1>the early eighteen twenties. Knee Military Academy, stationed on the

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<v Speaker 1>west bank of the Hudson River, was after all, run

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<v Speaker 1>by Colonel Sylvanus There, a stern superintendent bent on instilling discipline.

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<v Speaker 1>If a student were caught possessing alcohol or under the

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<v Speaker 1>influence of alcohol, expulsion and arrest weren't far behind. Plus

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<v Speaker 1>west Point, just fifty miles that's eight kilometers north of

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<v Speaker 1>New York City, had its reputation to consider. When West

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<v Speaker 1>Point accepted its first class in eighteen o two, a

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<v Speaker 1>mere ten students assembled in a handful of haphazard buildings.

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<v Speaker 1>New students interested in joining the ranks were admitted at

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<v Speaker 1>any time throughout the year, with a few questions. Then

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<v Speaker 1>came the War of eighteen twelve, and Congress, hungry for

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<v Speaker 1>military success, installed there to get the academy into shape.

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<v Speaker 1>By eighteen twenty six, there had done just as he

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<v Speaker 1>was commanded, and that was the year he outlawed alcohol

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<v Speaker 1>at West Point up to and including on Christmas Eve.

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<v Speaker 1>So these students conspired and that night they broke out

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<v Speaker 1>their secret stash of liquor, about four gallons of the

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<v Speaker 1>cheapest whiskey they could find. They lugged it across the

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<v Speaker 1>Hudson River and bribed a guard thirty five cents to

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<v Speaker 1>let them bring it on to campus, where they hit

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<v Speaker 1>it among their personal effects. Imagine whiskey in boots, coat pocket,

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<v Speaker 1>under mattresses and blankets until the moment it was hastily

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<v Speaker 1>mixed with eggs, milk, and a few spices to become eggnog.

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<v Speaker 1>For the article, this episode is based on how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Work spoke with Cyrus Ropers of Arousing Appetites, a food

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<v Speaker 1>blog focused on recreating traditional recipes from cuisines all over

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<v Speaker 1>the world. He said, there are a lot of different

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<v Speaker 1>theories as to how eggnog came about, but there's a

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<v Speaker 1>solid consensus that medieval Europe played a large role in

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<v Speaker 1>its creation. Many believed the eggnog is an offshoot of

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<v Speaker 1>an old drink called posset, which is hot milk curdled

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<v Speaker 1>with wider brandy and some added spices. Originally, says Roper's,

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<v Speaker 1>posset was the preferred drink of Europe's one per centers

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<v Speaker 1>thanks to the cost of alcohol, spices, and dairy alike.

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<v Speaker 1>But it didn't take long before this beverage of wealthy

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<v Speaker 1>nobility became available to and popular with the average person

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<v Speaker 1>and hoped continents. As non noble colonists in North America

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<v Speaker 1>began owning land and livestock, they started using readily available

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<v Speaker 1>ingredients like milk, eggs, and liquor to whip up their

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<v Speaker 1>own version. Ropers said brandy and wine remained a European luxury, however,

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<v Speaker 1>so Americans replaced it with the much more available, cheaper

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<v Speaker 1>rum thanks to their Caribbean neighbors. The trade and work

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<v Speaker 1>of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean had led to the

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<v Speaker 1>production of a lot of sugar, of which molasses is

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<v Speaker 1>a byproduct, from which, in turn, rum can be distilled.

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<v Speaker 1>Around the same time, the whiskey industry was starting up

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<v Speaker 1>in America, and as West Point Cadets among others, discovered

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<v Speaker 1>that was an acceptable substitute too. So back to Christmas

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<v Speaker 1>Eve of eight as the Eggnog Riot, sometimes called the

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<v Speaker 1>grog mutiny, stretched into Christmas morning, the revel re escalated.

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<v Speaker 1>Students who weren't busy dismantling the barracks or fist fighting

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<v Speaker 1>among themselves, armed themselves with guns and swords in preparation

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<v Speaker 1>for a battle with West Points artillery men who they

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<v Speaker 1>mistake only expected to be summoned to subdue them. But

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<v Speaker 1>then the Eggnogs effects began to wear off. Morning roll

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<v Speaker 1>call revealed a core staggering to line up with about

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<v Speaker 1>a third of the two sixty cadets somewhere along the

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<v Speaker 1>eggnog continuum of well oiled to full on hungover. If

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<v Speaker 1>they are elected to censure only the most destructive revelers,

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<v Speaker 1>and neither Jefferson Davis nor Robert E. Lee were among them.

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<v Speaker 1>In the end, nineteen cadets were expelled. When the new

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<v Speaker 1>barracks were built in the eighteen forties. They included crowd

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<v Speaker 1>control measures that prevented cadets from gathering in such large

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<v Speaker 1>numbers and there's no word on whether any of them

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<v Speaker 1>ever drank eggnog again. Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>article Ridiculous History When West Point Cadets Rioted over Eggnog

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<v Speaker 1>in eighty six on how Stuffworks dot Com, written by

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<v Speaker 1>Laurel Dove. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio in

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<v Speaker 1>partnership with how stuff Works dot Com, and it's produced

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<v Speaker 1>by Tyler client In four more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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