In 1802, West Point Military Academy was founded, a pathetic joke of a military institution whose lax recruitment standards, negligible resources, and few teachers contributed little to the nation’s safety. Then the War of 1812 happened, and losing the White House to the British convinced Congress that it would be prudent to train better officers and soldiers. In 1817, Colonel Sylvanus Thayer was appointed as superintendent. Thayer was a hero of the War of 1812 who had studied in France, and a man known for strict discipline in every sense of the word – both military and personal. He quickly moved to change the character of the institution, and the character of the men who graduated.
He created a stable four-year curriculum (before him, students could come and go at any time), a college of engineering (the country’s first), and instituted many policies and rules. He demanded cadets demonstrate honor and integrity. Among his rules were prohibitions on dueling, gambling, tobacco, and alcohol, and he instituted a demerit system for infractions. By the time of the Mexican-American War, and later the Civil War, his efforts had paid dividends, and American military discipline was dependable, with good officers abundant. Many elements of Thayer’s curriculum are still in use today.
However, in 1826, he was still building up the institution. Many students were rowdy and disobedient, taking time to either shape into worthwhile men or wash out. Among the best and brightest that would come to West Point, there was also plenty of dross – bullies and drunks; the cowardly and indolent. Despite the prohibition on alcohol, many students plotted to sneak some in, acquiring gallons of rum and whiskey in the days leading up to Christmas. They were to be given non-alcoholic eggnog for holiday celebrations, but they surreptitiously mixed up their booze into the eggnog, planning for a bender in the North Barracks. They also stole food from the mess hall.
Obviously, students had often tried to sneak alcohol into the school. Their parties were routinely broken up and the alcohol confiscated, with demerits or minor punishments handed out and order restored. But on Christmas Eve of 1826, it was more than a handful of students, starting with nine, then dozens, and finally over a third of the 260 students across both the North and South Barracks. They were not able to keep their rule-breaking secret for long. One of the drunks was Jefferson Davis, later to become famous as the President of the Confederate States. He already had a checkered relationship with discipline, and was on the radar of Colonel Thayer and commandant Major William Worth for his habitual misbehavior.
The faculty numbered thirty-six officers, including Captain Ethan Allen Hitchcock, a military tactics professor. Hitchcock was one of two officers assigned to monitor the North Barracks that night, and he fully expected to deal with a few drunks. In the early hours of Christmas morning, he broke up a group in room 28. Most complied with his orders, but some resisted. Others were incensed. After he left, cadet Billy Murdock called for revolt, saying something to the effect of “Get your dirks and bayonets, and pistols if you have them – before this night is over, Hitchcock will be dead!” Others took him seriously.
The riot had begun in earnest. Hitchcock heard more commotion room 5, going to break that group up, too. Here Jefferson Davis demonstrated his great gift for timing and picking the winning side of a conflict, bursting in to room 5 and yelling “Put away the grog boys – Captain Hitchcock’s coming!” only to realize Hitchcock was already in the room. The captain ordered him back to his bed, and he meekly complied. Alternatively, some reports suggest he left because he needed to throw up.
Elsewhere, though, windows were smashed, furniture broken, swords and pistols drawn, shots fired, and another professor (Lieutenant William Thornton) knocked unconscious. The students were out of control. Hitchcock called for backup, and the word went out to the artillery regiments, making the drunks fear that they would soon be facing heavy weapons. Inebriated as they were, though, all attempts to stab or shoot Hitchcock failed; and although badly bruised up, he personally fought mutinous students until Major Worth and others arrived and helped restore order. The officers called for a roll call and chapel service on Christmas morning to reestablish routine, and although many students showed up hung over, they did acquiesce. Their riot had been put down.
The North Barracks had sustained heavy damage, and between seventy and ninety students were to blame. But expelling a third of the academy would have looked bad for West Point, so Colonel Thayer opted to court martial only the twenty most egregious offenders (such as the ones who had smuggled in the alcohol and the ones who had incited the rioting). Nineteen were found guilty, and sentenced to expulsion. Demerits and minor punishments like losses of privileges were handed out to ordinary but compliant drunks. The President at the time, John Quincy Adams, granted clemency to a few of them.
Jefferson Davis was not among the twenty that were court martialed. The fact that he immediately complied with Hitchcock’s order to go to bed was the only thing that saved him from a court martial. However, several future Confederates had not shown even that much sense. Other future traitors present were Benjamin Humphreys and Hugh Mercer, both of whom were expelled and later became Confederate generals. Also a student at the time was Robert E. Lee, but unlike the others, he scrupulously obeyed the rules and did not drink that Christmas, even offering testimony against some of the rioters – in fact, he was a model student that did not incur a single demerit in his entire time at West Point.
For those interested in exploring more, excellent library databases on American history include America History and Life, ProQuest History, American History in Video, and American History Online. Books include What They Didn’t Teach You in American History Class by Mike Henry or Jefferson Davis, Unconquerable Heart by Felicity Allen, or, more fancifully, Eggnog riot: the Christmas mutiny at West Point by James B. Agnew.
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