spirits in the military.

spirits in the military. The global spread of distilled spirits in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries inaugurated a new phase in the long and close relationship between alcoholic beverages and the world’s armed forces. There has been a connection between strong drink and the military since antiquity. Going back to the days before Christ, Roman soldiers drank a sour, vinegar-based wine known as posca) and were also known to drink ordinary wine as well as beer. In the days of the ancient Greeks, peace negotiations at the conclusion of war were always accompanied by wine. In fact, as Eric Felten writes, “The plural of the Greek word for ‘libation,’ spondai, is the word for treaty.” Historically, in both the military and everyday life, beer or wine was a preferred option over a suspect water supply; it was simply safer to drink. Furthermore, until the nineteenth century recruiting efforts were accompanied in many armies and navies by free-flowing alcohol. (In 1775, for example, Philadelphia’s Tun Tavern served as the first recruiting station for America’s first marines.) This practice was not only open to abuse; it practically demanded it.

Spirits being both much more easily transportable and almost immune to spoilage, by the seventeenth century they began to supplant or entirely replace fermented beverages in many militaries. Consider, as one example among a great many, the experience of the British Royal Navy. Spirits began appearing in place of its ration of beer (one five-quart “beer gallon” per person per day, at mealtimes) in the mid-1600s. By 1732, as Ian Williams notes, navy regulations specified that in the absence of the beer, which went bad distressingly fast, “a pint of wine or half a pint of ‘brandy, rum or arrack’ would suffice.” The type of spirit depended on what was available in the nearby ports. In 1740, as commander of the Royal Navy’s West Indies Station, Admiral Edward Vernon “ordered the daily half a pint of rum diluted with a quart of water” and, when appropriate, served with “extra lime juice and sugar that it be made more palatable” to the sailors. Thus began the tradition of “grog,” that name reportedly coming from Vernon’s habit of wearing a coat of “grogram” cloth. Vernon’s order also specified that the ration “be mixed in a scuttled butt” (a repurposed barrel half) and dispensed openly, so the men could ensure they were “not defrauded of their full allowance of rum.” For those who found a four-to-one mix of water and rum somewhat lacking, Vernon suggested that “those that are good husbandmen” supplement it with purchased lime juice and sugar, effectively turning it into punch. The addition of lime or lemon juice also carried health benefits, as the vitamin C in it was a good deterrent to scurvy, and indeed by Nelson’s time it was official policy to issue the rum in the form of punch. See punch and rum, navy.

The Royal Navy is not the only service with its characteristic drinks (besides punch, there were the Pink Gin and the Gimlet). See Gimlet and Pink Gin. There are drinks commemorating particular army units, notably the Sixty-Ninth Regiment Punch and the National Guard Seventh Regiment Punch (both American), the British 32nd Regiment Punch and Bengal Lancers’ Punch, the Shanghai Cossack Punch, the coffee-and-cognac Mazagran, popular among the early French forces in Algeria, and the (American) Chatham Artillery Punch. See Chatham Artillery Punch. There are drinks to honor the various branches of the military, such as the Army Cocktail, Army and Navy Cocktail, the Fortitudine Punch, and the Leatherneck Cocktail (US Marine Corps), and several versions of Navy Grog. All of these are American, but perhaps the most dedicated inventors of military drinks were members the old Imperial German Army. Not only did many of the kaiser’s regiments have their own punch recipes, but according to a 1913 compendium, each one had its own mixed shot—all 470 of them.

The Americans, however, are the champions at naming drinks for their military leaders, as will be attested by General Harrison’s Eggnog, General Burnside’s Favorite, the Old Hickory (named for General Andrew Jackson), the CINCPAC Special (named for Admiral Chester Nimitz, the commander in chief of the Pacific forces during World War II), the Fanciuli Cocktail (named for the director of the marine band in the 1890s), Admiral Schley Punch, and Ernest Hemingway’s “Montgomery Martini,” made with a 15:1 ratio of gin to vermouth, so named because of Hemingway’s belief that British field marshal Bernard Law Montgomery was so cautious he required a 15-to-1 troop advantage before committing them to battle. There are also drinks named for particular weapons, such as the B-52 (named for the American bomber), the Hand Grenade, the Depth Bomb and Depth Charge, the 75 or French 75 (named for the French 75 mm artillery piece), and the Artillery Cocktail.

There are even drinks commemorating particular military campaigns or events, notably the Guadalcanal Cocktail, the Remember the Maine (honoring the destruction of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor, which led to the Spanish-American War), the Cuba Libre (celebrating Cuba’s independence from Spain), and the Daiquiri (US forces landed at Daiquiri Beach, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War). Fittingly, the Daiquiri is said to have made its US debut at the Army-Navy Club in Washington, DC, circa 1909.

aperitivi and digestivi, not so much for carousing as to make sure that their rations would sit properly. Lastly, militaries around the world offer ceremonial drinks to celebrate anniversaries, feast days, promotions (sometimes known as “wet downs”), a crewmember’s first crossing of the equator (whereby he or she matures from a “pollywog” to a “shellback”), and other events.

There have been varying opinions on alcohol’s role in the military. George Washington reasoned that “the benefits arising from the moderate use of strong Liquor have been experienced in All Armies, and are not to be disputed.” Echoing that sentiment, Admiral Henry K. Hewitt, the US naval commander in North African waters, argued that sailors be allowed to drink beer while at sea, offering that “nothing would be so good for sailors’ morale in wartime as beer.” However, in 1914, US navy secretary Josephus Daniels issued General Order no. 99, which decreed that “the use or introduction for drinking purposes of alcoholic liquors on board any naval vessel or within any navy yard or station is strictly prohibited.” Similarly, the British Royal Navy served its final daily “grog” ration on July 31, 1970, a day that became known as “Black Tot Day.” In general, it’s safe to say that, with one or two possible exceptions, today’s armed services—at least in the major industrialized countries—are the soberest they have ever been.

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By: Philip Greene