Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-06-25
RETUgNISG HEROES


A little less than two years ago, these
words met the eye for weeks, conspicu'
Gus In every New York morning journal
One then in that city every day saw
marching up Broadway, companies, reg
ments and brigades, Of all nations and
tongues, the patriotic and the mercenary.
the soldiers and the snesks, fractions Of
that huge aggregate Of over million
Of men, in the field in May 1855, and
which was held to have covered itsel
with glory by its success in crushing an
exhausted force of one-tenth its number
The press rung with e~Xtrsyagant anc
nsuseous laudations Of the " returning
heroes - and the pulpit felt called upon
10 magnify /" the armies Of the LORD 81
and demand the blood Of JEFFERSON
DAVIS.
The returned heroes subsidized into pri-
vate life, but not all, it seems, r~eturBed
to the ways Of peaceful Industry. The
following paragraphs shed an unexpected
light upon the fortunes Of some among
them:
The average number Of males confined
in Sing Sing were In the year 1851,
1870; in the year 1852. 1l47; in the year
1858, $50; in the year 1854, 1876; in the
wear 1855, $50. Ia five years the num-
bsrs had diminished Desrly one-haif.
Bot what was the result when the war
ceased? We have an item IN regard to
it in the report OF the New York prison
association for 1885 "On the closing Of
the war the number OF prisoners began
to Increase. and increased 50 rapidly
that IN six months the number Of COM
mitments was three times as great as the
number had been during the same
months Of the previous year"
But this is q partial clue only TO the
entire truth. A recent report Of the in
spectcr Of the eastern penitentiary o.
Pennsylvania informs Us that out Of 334
convicts committed in 1866, no less than
246, or serenity per cent, had served in
the army. From the report for 1855 OF
the Massachusetts, state prison, We have
a similar result, the whole number OF
commitments for the year having been
247, of whom l7l-Or very nearly seventy
per eent-had been soldiers.
What q startling fact is thisl Seven
out Of every ten Of the cOnvicts iD these
" large establishments were among
the defenders Of their country when her
very existence was imperiled. The New
York report above referred 10 gives Us q
hint as 10 how this has occurred. II
saws: 1.-THE convictions in the city OF
New York fer crimes Of UiBeBce were
ga in 1854 and 995 in 1862 This was
an increase Of about sixty per cent.
Let no one suppose that these state
ments come 20 Us in 3 [" rebel" or cop
perhead " journal. They are contained
in an editorial article Of the New York
Tribune, heretofore the greatest glorifer
of the " heroes and are preceded by q
long and stupid homily ca prison disci-
pline and the legitimate purposes OF im.
prisonment, and followed by some very
ingenious expressions Of establishment
and amszement.
Seventy per cent, then, Of the con-
victs committed to prison in PennsvIva-
MIA and Massachusetts, are "returned
Heroes - and their number, for 1866.
245 in the eastern penitentiary OF Penn.
sylvania alone, and III 10 Massacbu-
setts-together, Az, or almost a battalion.
The Tr5Uns does not give the proportion
81 " Returned Heroes" among the con
viets committed to Sing-Sing, il New
York, during the year 1856; but it is fair
to presume that it was larger than in the
other States, since New York poured al.
its v~agabondsge and racsile into the
Union armies. Such material is readily
bought up at nom $500 to $1,000 bounty
percopuf.
In 1868, the number Of convicts COM
mitted 70 Sing Sing was esS. In 1856
the number was three times as great, or.
say, 2!Os7. II 20 per cent. Of these were
returned heroes, the number of these was
in the n~eighborhood Of l450. Il IS quite
evident that if the proportion is any
thing near the same in the other New
Fpeland States, and in the middle
and western States, some two brigades Of
Returned Heroes" viii have found
their way into the prisons and peniten-
~tiaries.
Upon so much Of this q the Tribune
notes. it fnnocently remarks:
There is subject for deep reflection IL all
fbia Il af0rds evidence, 10 the first
Dlass. OF the demOralizing effects Of war.
~ vast good the late wal has done has
~grcassed At the expense Of much
men Wte risked their lives
.al existence might be
pynn