Editing William M. Tweed (section)

==Imprisonment, escape, and death==

[[File:Thomas Nast, Stone Walls Do Not a Prison Make cph.3a00899.jpg|thumb|"Stone Walls Do Not a Prison Make": Editorial cartoon by [[Thomas Nast]] predicting Tweed could not be kept behind bars (''Harper's Weekly'', January 6, 1872)<ref>
{{cite news |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0106.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919114442/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0106.html |archive-date=19 September 2018 |title=On This Day: January 6, 1872 |newspaper=The New York Times }}</ref>]]
[[File:Tweed2 at Green-Wood 2024 jeh.jpg|thumb|Tomb in [[Green-Wood Cemetery]]]]
Tweed was released on $1&nbsp;million bail, and Tammany set to work to recover its position through the ballot box. Tweed was re-elected to the state senate in November 1871, due to his personal popularity and largesse in his district, but in general Tammany did not do well, and the members of the Tweed Ring began to flee the jurisdiction, many going overseas. Tweed was re-arrested, forced to resign his city positions, and was replaced as Tammany's leader.  Once again, he was released on bail—$8 million this time—but Tweed's supporters, such as [[Jay Gould]], felt the repercussions of his fall from power.<ref name=g1008 />

Tweed's first trial before [[Noah Davis (judge)|Judge Noah Davis]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://history.nycourts.gov/figure/noah-davis/ | title=Noah Davis, Jr }}</ref> in January 1873, ended when the jury was [[hung jury|unable to deliver a verdict]]. Tweed's defense counsel included [[David Dudley Field II]] and [[Elihu Root]].<ref>Allen pp. 138–139.</ref> His retrial, again before [[Noah Davis (judge)|Judge Noah Davis]] in November resulted in convictions on 204 of 220 counts, a fine of $12,750<ref name=encnyc /> (the equivalent of ${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|12750|1873|r=-4}}}} today) and a prison sentence of 12 years; a higher court, however, reduced Tweed's sentence to one year.<ref name="uoooovz">{{Cite web |url=http://www.lowermanhattan.info/news/landmark_tweed_courthouse_has_65546.aspx |title=Lower Manhattan : News {{!}} Landmark Tweed Courthouse Has a Checkered History |access-date=March 16, 2012 |archive-date=February 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205132026/http://www.lowermanhattan.info/news/landmark_tweed_courthouse_has_65546.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> After his release from [[The Tombs]] prison, New York State filed a [[civil suit]] against Tweed, attempting to recover $6&nbsp;million in embezzled funds.<ref name=uoooovz /> Unable to put up the $3&nbsp;million bail, Tweed was locked up in the [[Ludlow Street Jail]], although he was allowed home visits. During one of these on December 4, 1875, Tweed escaped and fled to Spain,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/recon/jb_recon_boss_1.html|title=Boss Tweed Escaped From Prison|website=www.americaslibrary.gov|access-date=December 24, 2019}}</ref> where he worked as a common seaman on a Spanish ship.<ref name=g1008 /> The U.S. government discovered his whereabouts and arranged for his arrest once he reached the Spanish border, where he was recognized from Nast's political cartoons. He was turned over to an American warship,<ref name=g1008 /> the {{USS|Franklin|1864|6}}, which delivered him to authorities in New York City on November 23, 1876, and he was returned to prison.<ref name="History.com">[http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/boss-tweed-delivered-to-authorities "'Boss' Tweed Delivered to Authorities"] ''[[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]]'' website, n.d.g. Retrieved February 3, 2015.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000440 |title=Tweed, William Marcy, (1823–1878) |publisher=bioguide.congress.gov |access-date=July 19, 2009}}</ref>

Desperate and broken, Tweed now agreed to testify about the inner workings of the Tweed Ring to a special committee set up by the Board of Aldermen<ref name=encnyc /> in return for his release. However, after he did so, Tilden, now governor of New York, refused to abide by the agreement, and Tweed remained incarcerated.

=== Death and burial ===
He died in the Ludlow Street Jail on April 12, 1878, from severe [[pneumonia]], and was buried in [[Brooklyn]]'s [[Green-Wood Cemetery]].<ref>Ackerman, p. 28.</ref> Mayor [[Smith Ely Jr.]] would not allow the flag at City Hall to be flown at [[Half-mast|half staff]].<ref name=encnyc />