1 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: One quart cream, one quart milk, one dozen tablespoons sugar, 2 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: one pinte brandy, one half pint rye whiskey, one half 3 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: pint Jamaica rum, one fourth pint sherry. Mixed liquor first, 4 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: then separate yolks and whites of eggs. Add sugar to 5 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 1: beaten yolks. Mix well. Add milk and cream, slowly beating. 6 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: Beat whites of eggs until stiff, and fold slowly into mixture. 7 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: Let's set in cool place for several days. Taste frequently. 8 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:02,560 Speaker 1: That is a recipe for eggnog by none other than 9 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: George Washington. I only assumed that it was a James 10 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: Bond villain z eggnog recipe. Yeah, funny, funny story. All 11 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: James Bond villains are based on George Washington accent wise. Hey, everybody, 12 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: welcome to the show. I'm ben that's that famous Mountain 13 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: vernon accent I've heard so much about. Right, I'm no, 14 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: It's is ridiculous history. And we started off with a 15 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,680 Speaker 1: really functional little nugget there that was nice. Yeah, that's 16 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: a that's a recipe that is is genuinely believed to 17 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: be George Washington's eggnog recipe. But there's one very important 18 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: missing part of this recipe. Did you catch it? He 19 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: doesn't say how many eggs should be in there. And 20 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: you'll see a lot of versions of this recipe wherein 21 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: someone has assumed, like based on the ratio of other ingredients, 22 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: that it would be about a dozen eggs. But he 23 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: didn't actually say that. What's the batch? What's what's the 24 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: yield on this recipe? Well, I guess that's up to 25 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: how much you like eggnog man? I guess? So what 26 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: doesn't the recipe typically uh include number of surveys? It 27 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: was a very different time. This wasn't this wasn't from 28 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: Tasty right, This wasn't Taste Made Curious Good Eats or anything. Yeah, 29 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,519 Speaker 1: what's funny you should mention um Washington's nog because our 30 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: coworker and pal, Alex Williams, who composed our theme around 31 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:25,799 Speaker 1: the holidays, he made a big old batch of Washington's 32 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: nog um and distributed around the office and these delightful 33 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: little Mason jars um. I was lucky enough to get 34 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: my hands on one, and it packed quite a wallop 35 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: because a big thing leading up to doing this episode 36 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: is how could you possibly get off your tits trunk 37 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:46,639 Speaker 1: on eggnog, right right, because nowadays we typically associate eggnog 38 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: as this very seasonally base, cozy drink like you sip 39 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: it by a fire. It's a comfort drink. It's a 40 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: comfort drink. Dug in drink form. Yeah, Yeah, it's a 41 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,239 Speaker 1: it's a it's a slightly boozy uh att a boy 42 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: for you around the holidays. But if you as you 43 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,399 Speaker 1: can tell from the recipe, we started the show with. Uh. 44 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: Eggnog back in the day used to pack quite a punch. 45 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: This was after uh it evolved from a much older 46 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,359 Speaker 1: drink known as posset Yeah, which was also known as 47 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: a milk punch, which sounds disgusting so bad. It's there's 48 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:29,079 Speaker 1: something in and and please uh listeners, friends and neighbors. UH, 49 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:34,120 Speaker 1: say hello to our super producer Casey Pegram. There's something 50 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: that I heard of before. They've never tried, but I 51 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: want to learn about. It was called milk salad. Does 52 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: that not sound disgusting? Really bad? It makes me think 53 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: of our jello episode, right, We got some great emails 54 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: about that today. And this this beginning, folks, may make 55 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: you think that my co host and I are delving 56 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: into the history of eggnog, and we we do just 57 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: a little bit, but it's to set the scene for 58 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: a ridiculous event and we thought this would be the 59 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: yummiest weird displaced to start. Yeah. Well, first I just 60 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: want to describe what posset is. We talked about milk 61 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:18,359 Speaker 1: punch and the precursor um or the the spiritual cousin 62 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: the predates eggnog called posset. That was a hot milk 63 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: punch uh using curdled milk and it was curdled with 64 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 1: wine or beer or I guess you get curdles when 65 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: you heat it. And then eventually it was thickened with 66 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: eggs and kind of became more what we know today 67 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: as traditional egg nog. But our story is really about 68 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: a riot involving drunken cadets. I'm gonna go with quote 69 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:50,840 Speaker 1: unquote riot on this wouldnell really okay? At what at 70 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: what threshold does fracas or brew haha become full on riot? 71 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: It's true. I was going to open the show with 72 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: a joke about how many eighteen hundreds uh West Point 73 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: cadets does it take to assault to officers and break 74 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: all of the China, And when we know the answer 75 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,479 Speaker 1: we'll get to that. We'll get to that. So let's 76 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about West Point in general. West 77 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: Point remains famous today. It is a storied institution here 78 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: in the United States. It is named west Point because, 79 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,919 Speaker 1: in a stunning plot twist, it is located in West Point, 80 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: New York. Yeah, it's about fifty miles outside of New 81 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:37,479 Speaker 1: York City. And storied it was. However, it didn't used 82 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: to be the model of discipline um and steadfastness fastidiousness 83 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,840 Speaker 1: that it is today because in the early days of 84 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: the school, it was ridiculously easy to get in and 85 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: that they let anyone in right um and you could 86 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: could join anytime during the year, and it was just 87 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:03,600 Speaker 1: kind of a loose grouping of ramshackled little huts um. 88 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 1: And I think it was about ten cadets that were 89 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: taught by I think only three teachers, you know. But 90 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: then a little thing called the War of eighteen twelve happened, 91 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,480 Speaker 1: which was you know, against Britain, because the Brits were 92 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:21,719 Speaker 1: attempting to restrict trade, uh and they kept arresting American seamen, 93 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,159 Speaker 1: which is not cool, as we know, and also inciting 94 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 1: Indian attacks on the U S frontiers. So that aggression 95 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 1: would not stand, my friends, so we decided to go 96 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: to war with the Brits. And that also led to 97 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 1: a need for disciplined soldiers, right disciplined, professional, competent soldiers. 98 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: And there's a character here in the evolution of West 99 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 1: Point that we must absolutely mention, if only because he 100 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 1: has an awesome name. It's like a dumbledorey and awesome name. 101 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: Sylvanus Fair, Ladies and gentlemen. In eighteen seventeen, then President 102 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: Ames Monroe ordered Fair to become the superintendent of the 103 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: Military Academy after the resignation of the former superintendent, Alden Partridge. 104 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: And so pretty cool name also yeah, by his own right, 105 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: not not Harry potteresque, but cool nonetheless and accidentally rhymed. 106 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: Under Fair's leadership, the Academy began to make incredibly impressive 107 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: leaps and bounds in terms of discipline, in terms of 108 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: quality of education. It became the nation's first college of Engineering. Well. 109 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: Fair didn't take no guff, my friend, Um, he didn't 110 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: put up with any horseplay, Shenanigan's or buffoonery, especially when 111 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: it pertained to consuming or um even possessing alcohol of 112 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: any kind. Right, alcohol could not be possessed, sold, or 113 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: brought into West Point at all. And this was just 114 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:08,040 Speaker 1: another part of his overall very strict regime. For instance, 115 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: he kept the students on a diet of beef, bread, 116 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: and water to accustom them to military rations. Their days 117 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 1: were strictly controlled as far as the way their time 118 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: was organized, and they had a lot of pressure on them. 119 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: So imagine these students like springs that are increasingly compressed, 120 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:34,319 Speaker 1: storing up more energy and tension. Yeah, they weren't even 121 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: allowed these some of these rules there, I don't understand. 122 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: They weren't allowed to leave campus. I guess I can 123 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,200 Speaker 1: get that because if you leave campus you can get booze. 124 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: I guess that's in the bud um. Also, they couldn't 125 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,439 Speaker 1: cook in their dorms or duel, right right, Just this 126 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: seems related. I made a note in the margins here 127 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:52,560 Speaker 1: in this, uh, this article from the Smithsonian egg Nog. 128 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: It's all fun and games until someone starts a holiday riot, 129 00:08:55,440 --> 00:09:00,320 Speaker 1: it said before their West Point sucked or was awesome whatever. Yeah, 130 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: that's uh, that's by Natasha Galing. And yeah, this article 131 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: is very well written, and I noticed some of the 132 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: same rules you're talking about here. And to me, the 133 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:15,199 Speaker 1: dueling one makes a lot of sense because you imagine, 134 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: you know, they're in a homogeneous population, right, this was 135 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:23,839 Speaker 1: this was strictly segregated. But for the time it's it 136 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: started to become relatively progressive because it was important for 137 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:32,439 Speaker 1: kids from a lower income level, right, or a lower 138 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: socioeconomic bracket to receive the same caliber of education if 139 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:41,479 Speaker 1: they were qualified for it. But with all the discipline 140 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: in the harsh environment, I can easily imagine that if 141 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: duels were allowed, these kids would be punching each other 142 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: up and pulling cards left and right. Yeah, fisticuffs and 143 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:59,439 Speaker 1: gun battles galore. Um. It's interesting because even though alcohol 144 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: was for beden at West Point, it was surrounded by 145 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,560 Speaker 1: normal things that you have in towns, like like pubs, 146 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:07,880 Speaker 1: and there were a couple. There was one called Benny 147 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: Haven and then another one called North Tavern, and those 148 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: will come into play in a little bit. But Benny 149 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:17,320 Speaker 1: Haven Um is also known for being the main hangout 150 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 1: for Edgar Allan Poe when he attended West Point UM. 151 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,080 Speaker 1: Admittedly not for a very long time because he you know, 152 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,439 Speaker 1: mainly just hung out and got sloshed the whole time, 153 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: but there was a history of getting slashed at West 154 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 1: Point before our pal Thayer came in in the days 155 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:40,680 Speaker 1: before his iron fisted grip tightened around these cadets and 156 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: tried to whip those boys into shape. They had a 157 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: yearly kind of revelry kind of thing going on around 158 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: the holidays, didn't they. Right, this is important. It may 159 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: seem strange to day, but in the past, in those days, 160 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: heavy drinking was or drinking in general was more common. 161 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:00,200 Speaker 1: It was something that was normal for people to do. 162 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:06,320 Speaker 1: You'll also hear some stories about early founding fathers uh 163 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 1: and influential historical figures being several mattress factory amounts of 164 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: sheets to the wind and Uh. We're establishing this because 165 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: when Thayer came in, he wasn't creating out of whole 166 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 1: cloth the strict set of rules. He was reacting to 167 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: what he saw his laxity in the past, and people, students, 168 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:32,719 Speaker 1: officers alike were well aware of the previous traditions. When 169 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: you mentioned historical figures and founding fathers. One a couple 170 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:39,839 Speaker 1: that are part of the story are our boy Jeff 171 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: Davis Jefferson for Long and Uh Robert E. Lee were 172 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: both involved in this tale of debauchery and chastisement. Yes, okay, 173 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: so here's here's how it happens. Up until eighteen twenty five, 174 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 1: cadets alcohol was still banned, but there were two days 175 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: a year that they could drink. That was the fourth 176 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:09,079 Speaker 1: of July. Makes sense, go us right, live it up. 177 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: And then of course Christmas. And then this changed because 178 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:19,079 Speaker 1: on the fourth of July e five a a bunch 179 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: of cadets drinking led to a snake dance, which led 180 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 1: to the hoisting of the school's commandant onto the students shoulders, 181 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 1: and Thayer said, you know what, this is too much 182 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:34,640 Speaker 1: a snake dance. Snake dance like, is that some kind 183 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:38,560 Speaker 1: of is it a congo line? Is it a bunch 184 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:41,080 Speaker 1: of people just sort of slithering up and down it. 185 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: They didn't like it because it just wasn't dignified. You know. 186 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:48,680 Speaker 1: It makes me think of remember when we did the 187 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: episode about the poison Squad when Wiley got booted from 188 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: his professorship for riding a bike. So maybe it was 189 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: just the idea that this was such a lack of 190 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,880 Speaker 1: discipline for them to put someone on their shoulders that 191 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: he said no alcohol. Ever, well, yeah, I did say 192 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,600 Speaker 1: he was he was not fond of horsing around. That 193 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:13,640 Speaker 1: sounds like the very definition of horsing around, making around. 194 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:15,920 Speaker 1: So Ben just want to get this straight. So yeah, 195 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,319 Speaker 1: he still allowed this revelry at first and then shut 196 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: it down after one of these went awry by his standards. Yeah, 197 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:27,960 Speaker 1: eighteen six onward. No alcohol, not once, never, not a drop? 198 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:29,920 Speaker 1: Was he a teetotal? Do you think or do you 199 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: think he would get in his cups? Privately? He seems 200 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: like a pretty straight shooter. He seems like a straight shooter. 201 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: But you know, you have to wonder if he applied 202 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: those same rules to himself. Do as I say, not 203 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 1: as I'm get hammered, right right right? Uh? Drink as 204 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 1: I say, not as I drink. And you know, I 205 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,199 Speaker 1: love that you mentioned these taverns because they didn't magically 206 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:58,200 Speaker 1: disappear after And Benny Haven is the really interesting one 207 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: there because of those two brains we mentioned earlier, Benny 208 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:05,079 Speaker 1: Haven was the only one that allowed a barter system 209 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 1: for the students. I know, this is really interesting, so 210 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 1: they could like trade shoes and and pantaloons and you know, 211 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:15,560 Speaker 1: maybe potatoes, who know anything? I guess was that was 212 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: on the table, except if it came from the school, right, 213 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,920 Speaker 1: No uniform, because that would be that would be stealing. 214 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 1: And they do not want to get on the bad 215 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: side of Colonel Fair. No, certainly do not, right right, 216 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: And it sounds like a tough customer, that Colonel Fair. Yeah, 217 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: people took him seriously. But you also have to wonder 218 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: would you barter stuff for booze? Yes, you would if 219 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:40,440 Speaker 1: I didn't have any pocket money, if you didn't have 220 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: a thirty five cents on hand, which will come into 221 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: play later. Okay, yeah, No, I don't know. I mean, 222 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,760 Speaker 1: I wouldn't barter away on the clothes on my back, 223 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: But if I had something of value that I could 224 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 1: part with and I wanted a nice stiff drink, I'm 225 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:56,000 Speaker 1: not opposed to that. So when judging me, are you 226 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 1: silently judging me? Ben? No? No, no, no, I'm I'm 227 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 1: judging myself fair enough, me too, Ben. You're great. You 228 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: know what we're together, We're a solid eight out of ten. 229 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: And uh you know we can never compare to Casey pegrum, 230 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 1: which is not not a bad thing. None can If 231 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 1: you can a few, very few between the two of us, 232 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: we practically make a whole person. We're getting there for sure. 233 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: So no, this situation is unsustainable to the students, right 234 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 1: to the cadets. The afore mentioned winding spring ready to pop. 235 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: So this all comes to a head when Christmas Eve 236 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 1: of eighteen six rolls around again. That's one of the 237 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,479 Speaker 1: two days the cadets are allowed to drink to imbibe, 238 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 1: and this is the first time they can't. And you know, 239 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 1: no one likes it when you tell them they can't 240 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 1: do something. Tell me what I can't do, Ben, Yeah, 241 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: don't tell me what I can't do. I will automatically 242 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: go do it. Reverse psychology is real, it's dangerous, and 243 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: people know it works. But clearly fair that was not 244 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 1: his style. He was much more of a prohibitor than 245 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 1: a than a mind manipulator, a mind wrangler exactly. Um. 246 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: So you know these cadets on Christmas Eve of about 247 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: seventy of them as it turns out, which I think 248 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: was somewhere in the neighborhood of a third of the 249 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: student body of of West point Um, decided to hatch 250 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: a little plot where they were going to go against 251 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: old Colonel Thayer's wishes and get themselves some boozy eggnog, Right, 252 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: so they decided that they would go off campus and 253 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: go to the place they knew that was going to 254 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: be the friendliest evern, which was of course benny Haveny Haven. 255 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: Maybe they brought some some extra pairs of socks with 256 00:16:55,560 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: which to barter. However, Benny Haven proved without us remarking 257 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:03,880 Speaker 1: on the socks or the pantaloons or whatever they brought 258 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:08,200 Speaker 1: with them, doesn't matter, right, Benny Haven's was too expensive 259 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 1: to step. Yeah, they could buy a little bit of liquor, 260 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 1: but not as much as they wanted, So they had 261 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: to go to Plan B. They wanted to get ripped 262 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:17,919 Speaker 1: and drunk. Oh, we should call it Plan H. I 263 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,640 Speaker 1: like it because why because they crossed the Hudson River exactly. 264 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: That's the very very good foreshadow in there Bend. So yes, 265 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 1: they did in fact cross the Hudson River. I imagine 266 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: on some sort of sloop, perhaps a barge, some sort 267 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:33,680 Speaker 1: of would they maybe surely they had vessels at the disposal, Right, 268 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:35,359 Speaker 1: it's a military academy. What do you think, what do 269 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:39,160 Speaker 1: you picture them crossing on? One would imagine they wouldn't 270 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,119 Speaker 1: swim because of the weather. Yeah, it'd be cold, so 271 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: they were probably on you know, a small boat or something. 272 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: Maybe they just rode across. I like it. I like it. 273 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,119 Speaker 1: I'm just trying to set the scene as all. You know. 274 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:53,120 Speaker 1: So this is under the cover of night, no doubt. Um. 275 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: They go over to the pub we mentioned briefly earlier, 276 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: the tavern I guess north tavern, where they made a 277 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 1: deal with the the bartender, the bar keep, and they 278 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 1: procured in the neighborhood of three or four gallons of whiskey. Yeah, yeah, 279 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:14,359 Speaker 1: they're gonna do it. Yeah, they've got They've got gallons 280 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:19,080 Speaker 1: of whiskey. And while they were there, they had the 281 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: historical quote we found is a few glasses themselves that 282 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:26,920 Speaker 1: this I think leads into the one for the chef, right, 283 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:31,120 Speaker 1: leads to the domino domino effect we'll see later. Because 284 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,920 Speaker 1: the size of those glasses as we record this, uh, 285 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,359 Speaker 1: that size is lost to history, so we have no 286 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:41,200 Speaker 1: idea how large these glasses were. But anyway, the death's 287 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: knocked back a few They went back to the dock 288 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,320 Speaker 1: and they found a soldier who was standing guard. But 289 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:50,240 Speaker 1: they said, you know what, man turn a blind eye, 290 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:55,159 Speaker 1: which wasn't unusual, right, uh, And he said, what price 291 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:59,040 Speaker 1: do you expect me to put on my morals. This 292 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,440 Speaker 1: conversation is inspired by a true story, I should say, uh, 293 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: and they they named a price and he accepted. And 294 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:08,119 Speaker 1: what was that price? It was thirty five cents? It 295 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,760 Speaker 1: was thirty five cents. Do you want to plug that 296 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,080 Speaker 1: into your handy dandy inflation calculator? Ben, you're you're going 297 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: to find this hilarious, and listeners, I hope you enjoy 298 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:26,640 Speaker 1: this too. In eighteen twenty six, thirty five cents was 299 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: the equivalent of Casey, can we get a drum roll please? 300 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 1: Eight dollars and nine cents. Yeah, his cheap, cheap, cheap 301 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:52,360 Speaker 1: morals eight dollars and nine cents. I mean, that's bizarre. 302 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 1: I can't imagine a bribe that would work at that 303 00:19:56,640 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 1: price level. Yeah, no, I can't either. Um, I would 304 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:02,920 Speaker 1: have at least asked for some of that whiskey, right, 305 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 1: maybe he did. Surely they applied him with with booze. 306 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,400 Speaker 1: Let's editorialize here. I mean, come on, no one's gonna 307 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: take eight fitty without a little without a couple of 308 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 1: shots first, right, yes, yeah, so uh, we go back 309 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:20,280 Speaker 1: to we go back to Colonel Fair and sure it 310 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:23,199 Speaker 1: was a bit draconian, but That doesn't make him a 311 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:26,439 Speaker 1: dunder head, It doesn't make him stupid. He was clearly 312 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:30,120 Speaker 1: a pretty savvy fellow, and he knew that cadets had 313 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:34,199 Speaker 1: smuggled alcohol into the academy before. In fact, one of 314 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 1: our characters near has a history that will get to 315 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:40,920 Speaker 1: in a bit. But he had always in and the 316 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: staff and officers structure of West Point had always dealt 317 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: with these on a case by case basis. So he 318 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: assumed reasonably so that there would be at least one 319 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 1: bad or should we say, one drunk apple, one fermented 320 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: apple like a bunch. So he had talked about it 321 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: with some of the staff and the fellow officers, but 322 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: he just took the regular precautions, like to two guards yep, 323 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: Captain Ethan Allen Hitchcock and Lieutenant William A. Thornton. They 324 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:17,439 Speaker 1: were to monitor the North barracks, Old Hitchcock and Thornton. 325 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 1: They have they're about to have have some fun. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh. 326 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,880 Speaker 1: They go to bed, they knock off around midnight, right yep, 327 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: that's right. Um, at which point, uh the boys who 328 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:34,760 Speaker 1: set off who sally forth for the north the tavern 329 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:39,680 Speaker 1: are now back in their respective dorms, Um, I guess 330 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,919 Speaker 1: they they snuck into the kitchen and made the knog. 331 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:45,680 Speaker 1: Speaking of which, what what part of the egg is 332 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: the nog ben? That's that's the question. I think everyone 333 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 1: wants to know. What's a good question. Um, let's see 334 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,199 Speaker 1: is there an answer there? As I was being a 335 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: little coy, so no one knows exactly. And it's certainly 336 00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:58,920 Speaker 1: a bit of a turn of phrase. There is no 337 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,240 Speaker 1: nog to the egg. It's not it's not a part 338 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:04,359 Speaker 1: of the egg. I think you will probably already knew that, um. 339 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: But it turns out that the word nog um was 340 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:14,800 Speaker 1: an old English slang for a very stiff beer. Oh okay, 341 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:18,439 Speaker 1: and you've also heard like grog, So I'm assuming that 342 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:22,400 Speaker 1: there's some relation there. And then another one is uh 343 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:26,199 Speaker 1: that the idea that, um, these wooden mugs that you 344 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:29,400 Speaker 1: could find in taverns all across the land were called 345 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,679 Speaker 1: noggin's and so apparently, and this is from an article 346 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:37,640 Speaker 1: on a delightful blog called Sustainable Table about the history 347 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: of eggnog, and they conjecture that when you combine nogging 348 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:49,359 Speaker 1: with egg, you get eggnog. So I don't know, there's 349 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,800 Speaker 1: a little aside that's solid. Oh, but we should also 350 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: add that the three cadets went across the Hudson. Uh, 351 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:02,520 Speaker 1: we're not alone in their endeavor. This was a group effort. 352 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 1: According to the eggnog Riot on Laughing's Quarterly by Michelle Legro, 353 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:13,399 Speaker 1: they were joined with conspirators colluters. You see, another group 354 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 1: brought a gallon of brandy and a gallon of wine, 355 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: and another one get this phrasonal organized a gallon of 356 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: liquor on credit, and then someone else bought the eggs, 357 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,159 Speaker 1: the milk, and the nutmeg. So they had all the 358 00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:34,919 Speaker 1: ingredients assembled together, and they got wasted. They got so 359 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 1: wasted that four hours after midnight, the two officers we mentioned, 360 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:42,720 Speaker 1: Thornton and Hitchcock, woke up with a very uh we're 361 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: a family show, so it's called a very OMG WTF reaction. Yeah, 362 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: it was. It was a clamor um hubbub. There was 363 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: such a clamor ye, indeed. But it was not jolly 364 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,760 Speaker 1: old st Nick. No, it was a bunch of unruly, 365 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:03,120 Speaker 1: drunken military school cadets, which has just gotta be the worst. 366 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:07,479 Speaker 1: Uh they were, well, let me let me correct here. Uh. 367 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,200 Speaker 1: So after the officers went to bed, they started drinking. 368 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 1: The cadets and then you'll hear, either around two am 369 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: or four am, the feather of drunken noise broke. The 370 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: proverbial camel of silence is back. We all know the 371 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,639 Speaker 1: sound if you live next door to a frat house 372 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,440 Speaker 1: or anything, if you've ever had any kind of unruly 373 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: neighbors that are having a party when you're trying to sleep, 374 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,320 Speaker 1: it's a very specific sound. Sounds totally different when you 375 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:35,960 Speaker 1: yourself are drunk, sounds delightful. It sounds just like the 376 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 1: sound of fun. Sounds merry, you know, but when you're 377 00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:42,400 Speaker 1: when you're trying to sleep. Sure, it's an instant, instant 378 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:47,200 Speaker 1: in ranger. So they were making merry. Around two am, 379 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: Jefferson Davis and eight other cadets started singing very loudly. 380 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:58,359 Speaker 1: Another student tried to do the version of shoot Guys, 381 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:03,119 Speaker 1: come on Cheese and uh by four him the sounds 382 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 1: blasting through the floorboards, and that triggers the investigation. Do 383 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:10,680 Speaker 1: we talk about Jeff Davis? Jeffe. We should talk about 384 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:13,400 Speaker 1: Jeff Davis because we just mentioned him as leading the singing. 385 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 1: He was. He was one of those kids with a 386 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,119 Speaker 1: past absolutely and the future. He went on to become 387 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,640 Speaker 1: the president of the U. S Confederacy. That's the one. Um. 388 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 1: But he was what you might describe as an incorrigible drunk. Yeah. Yeah, 389 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: he had a history of being cinsured for leaving his 390 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,880 Speaker 1: post to drink at the bar. In fact, he racked 391 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:41,959 Speaker 1: up and arrest he did. He got arrested. I think 392 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,720 Speaker 1: he was the first student to be arrested for sneaking 393 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: away to go to Benny Haven. And not long before 394 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: the Eggnog riot that we're talking about, he Um was 395 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: with some pals sneaking and he fell into a pit 396 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:02,639 Speaker 1: and his pals cried out, are you alive? And and 397 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,000 Speaker 1: thankfully he was. He was alive. But he you know, 398 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,480 Speaker 1: you don't know, man Ravine, good lord, he could have 399 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 1: hit his head on a rock and that's sixty feet 400 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 1: so that's nothing to sneeze at. So this guy, when 401 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:20,920 Speaker 1: they're when they're organizing this secret Christmas party, Jefferson Davis 402 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:23,080 Speaker 1: is one of the top picks. He's like a veteran 403 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 1: of this sort of thing. Yeah, he was totally on board. Um. 404 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,760 Speaker 1: And our heroes, uh, for all, in dists and purposes, 405 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,439 Speaker 1: heroes are depends on what what side of of this. 406 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 1: I'm annoyed at the cadets, to be honest, that's where 407 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,520 Speaker 1: I stand. I think they're being a little disrespectful. I 408 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,480 Speaker 1: feel you. But it's Christmas, eve Man, No it's not. 409 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,880 Speaker 1: It's Christmas. Oh yeah, yeah, it's officially Christmas. Okay, even more, 410 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:51,679 Speaker 1: it's Christmas Day. Have a little charity. Where's my Okay. So, 411 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:53,920 Speaker 1: but I'm just saying, like I've been around drunk people 412 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: when I'm sober and trying to sleep enough that I 413 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,600 Speaker 1: am feeling these two guards perspective here pretty hard. So 414 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:02,919 Speaker 1: one of them, Hitchcock, leaps out of bed with a 415 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 1: start um and finds a handful of of the boys, 416 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:13,480 Speaker 1: six or seven of them visibly slashed, and he he, 417 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:15,879 Speaker 1: I love the way this article puts it, Uh, the 418 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: Smithsonian article. He ordered them to disperse, right, right, right, 419 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 1: and they refused. They refused to disperse. And it sounds 420 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: so formal at this point, you know, it sounds as though, uh, 421 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,679 Speaker 1: they had a decision making process. But that's it was. 422 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,680 Speaker 1: It had to be more sloppy and more emotionally charged. 423 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: He thought it was just that one room at first, 424 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: but it turns out it wasn't. Oh no, no, it wasn't. 425 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:48,680 Speaker 1: He then went into another room, and he was actually 426 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: followed by our boy jeff Davis, who tried to give 427 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,399 Speaker 1: his compatriots the heads up by shouting, put away the 428 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 1: grog boys, old Hitchers, come in, Old Hitchcock. Uh. But 429 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: of course he was already there. He was literally there, 430 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: right behind him or right in front of him, so 431 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 1: you know, he he looked like a chump. Um. And 432 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:13,280 Speaker 1: then Hitchcock ordered Jeffy to disperse and he agreed, which 433 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,480 Speaker 1: is probably the one thing that saved him from getting 434 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 1: court martialed and expelled. Um. So you know, we can 435 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,600 Speaker 1: thank Hitchcock and his kind hearted nature for you know, 436 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,879 Speaker 1: Jefferson Davis is uh future in politics. Yeah, no one 437 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:29,000 Speaker 1: knew what was going to happen at the time exactly. 438 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: So Davis is arrested. Others are arrested, uh ordered to 439 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:45,239 Speaker 1: their rooms. And this is this is weird because we 440 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 1: asked at the top of the show what constitutes a riot. 441 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: Apparently Hitchcock read the group the Riot Act, which declared 442 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 1: any group of twelve or more unlawfully assembled. Wait, that's 443 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,200 Speaker 1: a real thing, the Riot Act. That's what's all they 444 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: have it here. Do you say when you're reading someone 445 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,640 Speaker 1: the Riot Act. That's literally like you're telling them their rights. Yeah. 446 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:11,720 Speaker 1: The original Riot Act again, real thing was passed back 447 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 1: in seventeen fourteen in Britain, and it essentially ruled that 448 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 1: if a group of a dozen or more people got 449 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:21,720 Speaker 1: together and started acting unruly, an officer of the law 450 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: could approach them and tell them to disperse, but to 451 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 1: do so, they literally had to read the Riot Act. 452 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 1: So the Cadets are really poed right now because they 453 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 1: had this one party in their minds. It's one of 454 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:42,120 Speaker 1: two nights they can let loose the entire year. Yeah, 455 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:44,760 Speaker 1: because we can't forget that. It's it's you know, it's 456 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 1: hard to come in and like just change things overnight. 457 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: Like if they're used to having these parties, and then 458 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: you've got this, this this killjoy Fair coming in and 459 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: denying them their two nights of revelry a year. That's's 460 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:00,920 Speaker 1: that's stings a little. You know, this was very refresh 461 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:05,240 Speaker 1: for them. So here's where I start to lose sympathy 462 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 1: for the Cadets. Yeah. So after now they're angry at 463 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: Hitchcock for ruining the soiree to get together. They decide 464 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 1: to hunt the captain down, they decide that vengeance is theirs, 465 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:24,240 Speaker 1: and we have a great quote for how that segment 466 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 1: of the night began. Yeah, Hitchcock took off and then um, 467 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: one of the drunken cadets screamed, get your dirks and 468 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 1: bayonets and pistols. If you have them before the night 469 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:39,520 Speaker 1: is over, Hitchcock will be dead. So that's you know, 470 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 1: that's a threat of bodily harm to a superior officer. 471 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:47,480 Speaker 1: That's probably not I'm not gonna fly right, right, right. 472 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:53,720 Speaker 1: So there's a book written by James b Agnew called 473 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,120 Speaker 1: The Eggnog Riot the Christmas Mutiny at West Point. Maybe 474 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,239 Speaker 1: mutiny is a little better word, but again he did 475 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 1: read the riot. So so this book gives a minute 476 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 1: by minute treatment account or estimation about how things went 477 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 1: down and from that point. So, let's says around four 478 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: a m. Over the next two hours there was a 479 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:19,400 Speaker 1: cat and mouse game between the drunk students, the faculty 480 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:23,480 Speaker 1: of West Point and the sober students, you know, the 481 00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:29,080 Speaker 1: nerds who woke up to side with the faculty against 482 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 1: their fellow cadets. Yeah, and then the other guy, Thornton 483 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:34,160 Speaker 1: in the other guard. He was had a sword brandished 484 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:37,120 Speaker 1: in his face, he got brained with a piece of wood, 485 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 1: got knocked on his butt. And I think Hitchcock was 486 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:44,520 Speaker 1: trying to break into a door that had been like barricaded, 487 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,240 Speaker 1: and someone took a shot at him from the other 488 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,720 Speaker 1: side of the door, the pistol. I mean, this is 489 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,400 Speaker 1: I think riot is absolutely fair, right, And just to 490 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,120 Speaker 1: go back a second to establish how drunk these cadets 491 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:01,640 Speaker 1: were when Hitchcock originally busted them. Several of them, No, 492 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:06,239 Speaker 1: try to hide under blankets, like while he's there, Like, 493 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 1: if I just hide under this blanket, no one will 494 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:10,360 Speaker 1: see me, right. I think some of them took their 495 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:15,320 Speaker 1: hats and covered their faces, Like you think that's gonna work, right, right, right, 496 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: But what's what's going on? So this is where they 497 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:22,720 Speaker 1: start doing incredible physical damage, not just threatening the officers, 498 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:28,120 Speaker 1: but damaging the property as well, breaking windows, ripping banisters 499 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:32,880 Speaker 1: off a staircases. Yeah, just like shredding the curtains, whatever 500 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: if they could get their hands on. I mean, it 501 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:39,360 Speaker 1: was a melee um. And so Hitchcock and Thornton decided 502 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:42,240 Speaker 1: they'd better call him the cavalry, and it was these 503 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 1: guys called the Bombardier's um who were the guards that 504 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 1: always kind of stood watched to make sure. It's sort 505 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 1: of like internal affairs for cops. You know, it's like 506 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:53,960 Speaker 1: nobody likes internal affairs if you're a cop, because they're like, 507 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:57,240 Speaker 1: it's like a snitch. So the cadets did not care 508 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:00,720 Speaker 1: for the bombardiers, and once they got called in, um, 509 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 1: things just got even even nastier, right, because the cadets 510 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:09,960 Speaker 1: hated these artillery men and they thought Hitchcock summoning them 511 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:13,920 Speaker 1: was this quote affront to their integrity. And if you 512 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:16,920 Speaker 1: read between the lines of history here, it sounds like 513 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 1: they were just sloshed enough that they were we're going 514 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:23,120 Speaker 1: to get angry about anything. They were obviously having delusions 515 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:25,200 Speaker 1: of grand are too. It's like, who the hell do 516 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:28,440 Speaker 1: they think they are? You know, they were trained in warfare? 517 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,280 Speaker 1: What am you're saying like their students at this school? 518 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:34,360 Speaker 1: These are their commanding officers. There is a mill, you know, 519 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,000 Speaker 1: two nights of partying a year or no, there is 520 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:40,680 Speaker 1: a military structure in place here, right like this is 521 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,080 Speaker 1: this just seems like a you know, a mass hysteria 522 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:47,680 Speaker 1: kind of situation. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And as things went 523 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:51,280 Speaker 1: further off the rails, it turned out that the bombardiers 524 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:58,280 Speaker 1: or these artillery men never actually showed up, and slowly, painfully, 525 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:03,480 Speaker 1: I would imagine these cadets began to sober up, but 526 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:08,279 Speaker 1: not successfully, not in enough time to be up at 527 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:14,880 Speaker 1: their scheduled hour, which was six am six am on 528 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,400 Speaker 1: a regular day. They would be exactly. They were probably 529 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:21,520 Speaker 1: not feeling super well. And finally, um, a man who 530 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:24,920 Speaker 1: was the commandant of cadets. Sounds like a really intense name, 531 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:27,600 Speaker 1: so like the king of cartoons from pue irmin. Yeah, 532 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:31,160 Speaker 1: there were a commandant of cadets. Um. He struck enough 533 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:34,160 Speaker 1: fear into the hearts of these boys that they they 534 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,120 Speaker 1: chilled out, They stopped breaking stuff. They were probably also 535 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:42,920 Speaker 1: getting tired and puy yeah. Uh. Jefferson Davis, according to 536 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:46,759 Speaker 1: the accounts, had missed the bulk of the night's events 537 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:49,879 Speaker 1: because instead of resisting arrest, when he was put under 538 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:53,080 Speaker 1: his rest, he uh stumbled to his room, threw up 539 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:57,040 Speaker 1: a little bit, and passed out. So that actually turned 540 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: out well for him because he wasn't party to a 541 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:04,000 Speaker 1: lot of the more violent events. In his memoirs, he 542 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:07,160 Speaker 1: would later claim that he didn't name names or you know, 543 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:10,759 Speaker 1: snitch on other people. Essentially, but the record show he 544 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:14,959 Speaker 1: indicated that his roommate was involved in the conflict when 545 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: the cadet returned to their dorm, waking Davis up as 546 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:21,160 Speaker 1: he loaded his gun. So his roommate was the one 547 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:25,400 Speaker 1: who fired the shot. Not a good look, So fair was, 548 00:35:25,520 --> 00:35:30,000 Speaker 1: you know, rightfully pretty upset. He he gathered a all 549 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:33,680 Speaker 1: of his staff for an inquiry um on the next night, 550 00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 1: and then over the following weeks they placed twenty two 551 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:42,640 Speaker 1: cadets on restriction and then they started to develop an 552 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:45,880 Speaker 1: investigation a court of inquiry uh and that was issued 553 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:49,719 Speaker 1: by Major General Alexander McComb, who was the Chief Engineer 554 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:52,560 Speaker 1: of the Army and Inspector of the Academy. And this 555 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:54,760 Speaker 1: is actually from an article on the U. S. Army's 556 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:58,880 Speaker 1: website egg And they have access to apparently a whole 557 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,759 Speaker 1: lot of ink that was spilled over this thing in 558 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:04,719 Speaker 1: terms of internal records. Because is a big deal, right, Oh, yeah, 559 00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:07,640 Speaker 1: of course a huge deal. It's a premier institution. And 560 00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:11,319 Speaker 1: we have the names of the cadets that we can 561 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:14,840 Speaker 1: list off. I'm gonna do it very quickly. The cadets 562 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:22,680 Speaker 1: were an Swith Berry and Bomford Burnley, Farely, Fitzgerald, Guard Guyan, Humphries, Johnson, Lewis, Mercer, Murdoch, Norville, 563 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:27,040 Speaker 1: Robert Scriven, Stocker, Swords, and Thompson. They all stood trial 564 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:33,160 Speaker 1: and uh other cadets, including Jefferson Davis and Robert Eally, 565 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:38,520 Speaker 1: testified for the defense. Eleven of that group were dismissed 566 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:42,800 Speaker 1: and the remainder were allowed to stay, although three of them, Guard, 567 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:46,920 Speaker 1: Murdoch and Norvelle chose to leave the academy anyway. You 568 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:50,359 Speaker 1: can't fire me. I quit indeed, And you know, and 569 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:53,000 Speaker 1: that you might think there were way more people involved 570 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:56,120 Speaker 1: in this than went down for it, right, yeah, but 571 00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:58,319 Speaker 1: you gotta think this was like a third of the 572 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:02,240 Speaker 1: population of the school. And he was just getting things 573 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:05,240 Speaker 1: moved away from the old ways, the old debaucherous ways 574 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:08,279 Speaker 1: of West Point that sounds funny, um, getting things on 575 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,239 Speaker 1: track for his government. He you know, he'd been given 576 00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:14,360 Speaker 1: some out of boys and he didn't want to lose everybody. 577 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:17,799 Speaker 1: He just wanted, like the main aggressors to take the 578 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:20,640 Speaker 1: fall and have it be a teachable moment, which I 579 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:24,600 Speaker 1: can appreciate. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, tough but fair. And 580 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:30,399 Speaker 1: so the riot included, as I believe you point out 581 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:34,120 Speaker 1: earlier nearly one third of West Point students and it 582 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:37,640 Speaker 1: changed the change the approach in the face of the 583 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:43,279 Speaker 1: academy for decades to come. But West Points command historian 584 00:37:43,840 --> 00:37:48,600 Speaker 1: Sherman Fleek that name is on fleek? Is it is 585 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:54,680 Speaker 1: literally on FLEEKU famously was incorrect when he said hardly 586 00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:58,719 Speaker 1: anyone knows about it if pooled among forty cadets, I 587 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:00,959 Speaker 1: don't know why. I think he talks like, um, three 588 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:05,360 Speaker 1: thousand federal employees, military staff and faculty. I doubt thirty 589 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:08,040 Speaker 1: people will know a thing about this. Guy's not even 590 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:11,400 Speaker 1: old timey. He's in our current day and age. It 591 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:15,799 Speaker 1: doesn't matter. Why would I not do a voice? Right? 592 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:20,879 Speaker 1: But way more than thirty people know about this, and uh, 593 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:24,440 Speaker 1: you know, more than thirty people should. Yeah, I don't know. Um. 594 00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:29,360 Speaker 1: I think nowadays eggnog is maybe remembered less as the 595 00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:34,160 Speaker 1: source of uh drunken riotous revelry at West Point and 596 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:38,040 Speaker 1: more of a non alcoholic kind of holiday drink. You know, 597 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:41,400 Speaker 1: my kid likes segnog. We have eggnog milkshakes. It sonic 598 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:46,520 Speaker 1: and you know egg frappuccinos Starbucks. Yeah, and eggnog is 599 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:52,000 Speaker 1: certainly not associated with crazy college party has gone wrong. 600 00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:54,360 Speaker 1: That's more of a Yeager bomb thing. That's true. My 601 00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:56,720 Speaker 1: whole thing with eggno because it's got so much sugar 602 00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:59,239 Speaker 1: and milk and cream in it, it just seems like 603 00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:02,640 Speaker 1: it would make you sick before you get drunk enough. 604 00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:05,479 Speaker 1: It feels like a Lebowski drink to me, just drink 605 00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:09,320 Speaker 1: the whiskey, man, drink the whiskey. Just is that? Is 606 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:11,080 Speaker 1: that our p s A? Is that our moral for 607 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:14,279 Speaker 1: this today's episode? Why not just drink the whiskey and 608 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:17,640 Speaker 1: the rum and the wine, whatever you got. Uh, we 609 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:21,239 Speaker 1: are going to wrap it up. We would like to 610 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:23,720 Speaker 1: hear from you. Does this change the way you feel 611 00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:27,040 Speaker 1: about West Point? I don't know why we're going we're 612 00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:30,000 Speaker 1: going with that question. Uh, we want to hear about 613 00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:33,440 Speaker 1: your experience with agnog. Do you have your own eggnog recipe? 614 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:36,000 Speaker 1: Because a lot of people do, you know. Our composer 615 00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:40,279 Speaker 1: Alex Williams, as as you said, modeled his after George Washington, 616 00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:43,560 Speaker 1: but he had to figure out the amount of eggs himself. Yeah, exactly. 617 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:45,560 Speaker 1: And why not make a batch of your own George 618 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:48,440 Speaker 1: Washington eggnog and send us a note and let us 619 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:50,520 Speaker 1: know how you liked it. It's ridiculous at how stuff 620 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:52,640 Speaker 1: Works dot com. You can also write us on the 621 00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:55,920 Speaker 1: facebooks um where we are ridiculous history and we have 622 00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:00,200 Speaker 1: a nifty new Facebook group called the Ridiculous Historians where 623 00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:02,040 Speaker 1: you can find your fellow listeners hipping each other to 624 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:06,319 Speaker 1: ridiculous stories throughout the span of human civilization. You can 625 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:12,000 Speaker 1: also find us two jokers on there as well. Yea, yeah, 626 00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:15,200 Speaker 1: we lark. We hey, we comment as well and uh 627 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:19,160 Speaker 1: we do also look to this page for inspiration for 628 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:22,000 Speaker 1: future topics, so thanks to everyone who's already made so 629 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:25,080 Speaker 1: many excellent suggestions. You can also find us on Twitter. 630 00:40:25,239 --> 00:40:28,879 Speaker 1: You can find us on Instagram. You can find us 631 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:31,839 Speaker 1: wherever you get podcasts. Oh gosh, that's right. We even 632 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:34,279 Speaker 1: have a website. Do you know that I didn't know? That? 633 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:37,840 Speaker 1: Isn't it Ridiculous History Show dot com spot on my friend. 634 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:40,520 Speaker 1: That's where you can find every episode that we have 635 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:43,799 Speaker 1: ever done. So check it out and let us know 636 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:46,880 Speaker 1: what you would like to hear. Next. We'll be getting 637 00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:50,640 Speaker 1: some fantastic emails and we it always makes our day 638 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:53,040 Speaker 1: to read them, and as always we want to thank 639 00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:57,960 Speaker 1: our super producer and eggnog enthusiast. Wait, let me check 640 00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:03,880 Speaker 1: Casey now, okay, super producer Casey Pegram, who was not 641 00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 1: a fan of egg nog, not not not a not 642 00:41:06,719 --> 00:41:09,719 Speaker 1: an odd guy. I think Casey would probably agree with 643 00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:11,959 Speaker 1: me in saying, just drink the whiskey, man, Just drink 644 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,279 Speaker 1: the whiskey. And we want to thank Lori L. Dove, 645 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:19,000 Speaker 1: our regular contributor, for her excellent article on how stuff works. 646 00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:22,719 Speaker 1: And uh, I guess most importantly other than thanking you, Ben, oh, 647 00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:25,319 Speaker 1: thank you know. Let men do this every time. I 648 00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:27,400 Speaker 1: don't know, you know, Let's not force it, Let's just 649 00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:29,920 Speaker 1: let it happen. Okay, I'm up into that. We'd like 650 00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:32,759 Speaker 1: to thank you folks for listening to the show, and 651 00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:35,239 Speaker 1: we hope you'll join us for our next episode, where 652 00:41:35,239 --> 00:41:39,160 Speaker 1: we talk about weird people who built weird stuff. That 653 00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:42,520 Speaker 1: is literally going to be the title. Let see then,