Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1875-02-18
Flopcment, Marriage and Shame
The Criminal Career Of am
Army Onicer--The Penitentiary
Fer. Ten Years. .,sg ts.rst.,


.t.s, 8sT
The Troy Times of the 18th inst. 2
gives the following chapter of an unfortu>
nate life.hstory:
The doors of the Albany Pententiary ,
yesterday closed upoLa young man whose
brief history. is, indeed, sad one. His
His namei is Virgil s. Egglcstou, and he j..
fell from one Of the most responsible and
honored positions in the army of the
United States. Born of greatly respected
parents Ia the village of Palmyra. in this.
State, he received good education and
was prepared to discharge with credit aud
intelligence the duties of worthy, if not
a prominent member of society. lie pos, =
sessed influential friends, who secured for
nim position in the Paymaster Generals
department Of the army zs aaa VIZ
While residing in Washington and per.
forming with fidelity the duties of clerk
IN the employ of the government, he be-.
came acquainted with the daughter Of yis
Henry Wilson's lardlady, and eloped :
with her. They were married and re.
turned to tn, maternal domicil. Mrs.
Wilson how interested himself in the p
young man n,whose character was EXCELLENT g
morals unexceptionable and intelligence q
superior With the assistance of other
friends Mr.. Wilson procured for young
Eggleston the paymaster in the regular -
ARMY, with the rank of Major. His ap-
pointment was one of tha last acts 'of y
Andrew j ilinson's administration. igl diiw
The fact that he had been taken from y
civil life and given a position in the army "
which so many Licutenants ana Captains :
coveted, caused Eggloston to be regarded &
with jealous eye, and from the start he
was unpopular in the service. However, ~
he was sent to Oregon, and went thitber, :
taking with him bis young wife, o giddy,
thoughtless creature, over whose shame-
less career subsequently, we will draw the
veil OF silence. Major Eggleston was III
the Modoc war, and was one Of the first toea
enter the lava beds after the cruel mur4sie
der Of Gen. Candy. His heroisn galned.g!
him some favor with the officers, md his
military career now became more promis- ,
lug, The subsequent discovery Of his "a
wife's bad conduct made him desperate,'s
and the first time in his life he became
reckless, and engaged in q life of. wild ~
disorder and dissipation. The more he
tried to do for her, the worse she grew. q
Debss multiplied, and sorrow filled his
cup to overaowing. At last he began to
use the public money to meet his own
and wifes extrayagances. The sum of
1000 has been embczzle6 and squand-
dered, when he was arrested, tried by
eourt.martial, and sentenced to be cash
Tered and imprisoned in the Albany
peniten:iary for the period Of five
years, and to remain in con6ement untirT
the amount Of money embeMled was re-
stored TO the Government, which practiS4
cally amounted to life sentence. Z 90
President Grant approved the proceed
ipgs of the Court, but with a generous
Endorsement regarding Egglestons bravery
in the Modoc war. fixed the limit of the
Imprisonment at ten years. Yesterday.
!, Colonel John Green, OF the regular army
and Captain NJ. c. Wilkison, Of Gen,
Towards staff ffcOmmilted Major Eggleston
to the tender mrrcies Of General
Pillsbury. His history is sad one, and,
there is great sympathy felt for him bya
largo circle Of i,iends. Considering that
the amount Of money cmbezzled BY him
was only $4,000. his sentence seems
largely dlsproPorlionate to that inflicted
upon Hodge, a brother paymaster, who
stole nearly Ave hundred thousand and
was sent to prison FOR only Eve years, and
was then FardOned out at the end Of ele-
ven months.