The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War

by Erik Larson

The students developed a hair-trigger sensitivity to abrasions of honor, and with it a corollary penchant, and reputation, for violence. This became acutely evident on February 18, 1856, with the “Guard House Riot,” when, according to one account, “more than one hundred enraged young men, with rifles in their hands”—all enrolled in the college—confronted the city’s militia, this after one student struck the city’s chief of police and the chief struck back with his club. The confrontation was calmed by the intercession of a well-liked former college president. A separate event had a less salubrious outcome. In the dining hall two students reached for a plate of fish at the same time, causing the slower of the two to feel affronted. He issued a challenge. The ensuing duel killed both.