Facts and figures vs. myths and misrepresentations
Henry Wirz and the Andersonville prison / Mildred
Lewis Rutherford
United Daughters of the Confederacy. Georgia
division
Chapter 1
page 3Henry Wirz and the Andersonville
Prison
Many Northern and Foreign newspapers and magazines of recent years
have given such unjust representations of the Andersonville Prison and
the part Henry Wirz, the superintendent, played in it, that Southern
historians must right as soon as possible this grievous wrong of
history.
Without giving any testimony from the South, not only Major Wirz but
Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Government can be absolutely
vindicated upon Northern testimony alone. [(See
pp. 19-26)](GB1008.PB19) [(Louis Schade's testimony, pp. 27-33)](GB1008.PB27).
WHO WAS HENRY WIRZ ?
1.
Henry Wirz was born at Zurich, Switzerland in 1822. His father was
Abraham Wirz, a highly esteemed citizen of Zurich, and "well-to-do" so
far as this world's goods are concerned.
He attended school at Zurich, graduating from the University there,
then he attended the medical colleges at Paris and Berlin, receiving
from both colleges the degree of M.D.
He was quite young when he began to practice medicine, and married
early. Two children, Paul and Louisa Emily, were left when his wife
died. So heart-broken was he over his wife's death that he decided to
leave his children with their grandparents and try his fortune in
America.
He went to Kentucky and began to practice medicine at Cadiz. In 1854
he married a widow, Mrs. Wolfe, with two children, Susie and Cornelia.
He made an affectionate husband and a loving stepfather. There was
only one child from this marriage, Cora, who afterwards became Mrs. J.
S. Perrin, of Natchez, Miss. She was ten years old when her father was
executed, and she distinctly remembers how her mother pleaded with the
Federal authorities for her father's body in order to give to it
Christian burial and how this request was cruelly denied. Mrs. Perrin is
now (1921) living in Natchez, Miss.
After this marriage Henry Wirz moved to Milliken's Bend,
page 4 La. He was a very
successful physician and was in fine financial circumstances in 1861
when the call was made for Southern men to resist President Lincoln's
unconstitutional coercion act.
2.
He joined Co. A. Fourth Battalion of Louisiana Volunteers, to defend
his adopted country. He was wounded in the Battle of Seven Pines, his
right arm being badly shattered. After this he was forced to learn to
write with his left hand. He was soon promoted for bravery on
battlefield, and was made captain. After he was wounded, he was unable
to enter active service, so was detailed to take charge of the Military
Prison at Richmond and later sent to Montgomery, Ala., to secure some
missing records. Then he was sent to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take charge of
a prison there.
He was highly educated, speaking fluently English, French, and
German. He was a man of prepossessing appearance--tall, slim, with
aquiline nose and regular features, bright eyes, black hair, black beard
and mustache well trimmed. He was always neatly dressed. His photograph
is in one of the U. D. C. volumes prepared by the Historian-General and
placed in Confederate Museum at Richmond, Va. This shows him in his grey
Confederate uniform with red sash a totally different person from the
"coarse, low, squatty Dutchman with brutal features," as described by
his enemies.
President Davis sent him in 1862 to Paris and Berlin as Special
Minister Plenipotentiary. While in Paris he had the shattered bones
taken from his arm. He thought the operation successful, but there must
still have remained some piece of bone in his arm, for he suffered from
that wound until the day of his death.
He remained in Europe two years, and when he returned he was
commanded to report to Col. Persons at Andersonville, April 12, 1864, to
take charge of the interior of the prison. (Note the date, because
Specification No. 6, which was one to convict him of cruelty, was said
to have happened Feb. 6, 1864, two months before he arrived at
Andersonville).
After the surrender, Captain Noyes was sent to collect the official
records of the prison, and found Major Wirz ready to deliver them to
him. Gen. Wilson directed Captain Noyes to bring Captain Wirz to Macon.
He went, fearing nothing, for
page 5
he had accepted Gen. Wilson's parole in good faith, and he was conscious
of having done all for the prisoners that was possible under the
conditions.
The instincts of the gentleman were in Captain Wirz, and he invited
Captain Noyes to have something to eat before returning to Macon. "We
have little to eat, Captain," said Wirz, "but to that little you are
welcome. Coffee and tea are luxuries of the past."
The captain accepted the invitation and shared with the family their
frugal meal of bacon and corn bread. With a woman's instinct, Mrs. Wirz
did not like the ominous silence of Captain Noyes, and became greatly
agitated when her husband bade her goodbye. Wirz tried to comfort his
weeping wife and children, assuring then that all would be well. After
an affectionate goodbye, he left for Macon.
Gen. Wilson examined the records, and finding them all right, said
Wirz could return to his family. He was at the depot waiting for the
delayed train, when an officer came up and arrested him, saying he was
needed in Washington City. When he arrived, May 10, 1865, he was taken
to the Old Capitol Prison to await his trial, so the officer told him.
The trial began in September and lasted three months. It was
postponed upon the slightest technicality. In the meantime the War
Department was using all means to collect witnesses with evidence that
would convict.
The Commission allowed suborned witnesses and mutilated official
reports to be accepted, taking extracts from the reports that would
condemn, and rejecting all reports that were favorable to the prisoner.
There was never a trial more unjust in profane history, unless it was
that of Thomas Cromwell, in English history, or of Mrs. Surratt, accused
of complicity in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
The man most prominent in collecting this evidence against Wirz was
Col. E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant-General, and yet in his Memoirs,
written afterward, not one word is found about Wirz or his trial.
Dr. W. J. W. Kerr delivered an address in New Orleans to the
Confederate Veterans. He had been one of the surgeons at Andersonville,
and knew Wirz personally, and had an opportunity
page 6 to judge his work.
Dr. Kerr stated that many of the acts of cruelty which convicted Wirz
were, to his certain knowledge, committed in August, when Henry Wirz was
not in charge at Andersonville. He said he had a letter from Dr. E. A.
Flewellen, who had been sent by the Federal authorities to inspect the
prison. Dr. Flewellen said he had been most pleasantly impressed by
Captain Wirz as an officer, and had so reported to the Federal
authorities, but he had never heard from his report, so he supposed it
had suffered the same fate as other reports sent to the
Surgeon-General's office in regard to this case.
Furthermore, Dr. Flewellen said he was present at Wirz's trial and
could confirm every statement Dr. Kerr had made in New Orleans as to the
unfairness of the proceeding, and that he would never cease to have a
contempt for that Commission, and for the Judge Advocate of that Court
Martial (N. P. Chipman) for their efforts to intimidate the witnesses
and to pervert the truth. There was also open disrespect shown to Wirz's
only attorney, Louis Schade.
For many months Wirz was kept in prison. Finally he wrote a letter to
President Johnson. If this letter ever reached President Johnson, he
ignored it. No reply was ever received to it.
All the accumulated passion of war seemed to be concentrated upon
this one man. He was hanged by the neck until he was dead. The North
realized soon that an innocent man had been hanged.
Had Wirz been really guilty, all officials connected with the prison
would have been hanged also for permitting the atrocities of which he
was accused--but not one was ever called to trial.
When Mrs. Davis insisted that her husband, Jefferson Davis, should be
brought speedily to trial, the North made every effort to find something
against him which would convict him. When no proof could be found of
complicity in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and Chief Justice
Chase said he could not be tried as a traitor, for secession was a
constitutional right,3.
then they turned to the Andersonville Prison for proof to convict him of
cruel treatment to the prisoners; but when the secret
page 7 records
4.of
the Confederate Congress were examined Judge Shea reported that neither
Jefferson Davis nor the Confederate Government could be proven guilty,
and the whole fault was with the Federal Government and the commanding
officers of the Army.
5.
Dr. Kerr testified to the tender heart of Wirz. He says that he has
seen the tears rolling down his cheeks when he saw the suffering of the
prisoners and was powerless to relieve them. He was called a brute, but
brutes never weep. For the first time in civilized times had medicine
been made contraband of war.
6.
He also testified that Captain Wirz could not have been hated by the
prisoners, as he always went unarmed among them.
He could not have been hated by the prisoners, or they would not have
presented him with a gold watch and given him other testimonials of
their appreciation of his kindness.
They also gave a gold watch to Lieut. Mayes, whom Captain Wirz had
placed in command at the gate of the prison. Lieut. Mayes treasured very
highly this token of appreciation. He was in Co. D, 7th Georgia
Regiment, and was wounded in Second Battle of Manassas, which
incapacitated him for active service. This is a copy of that letter:
Camp Sumter, Ga.,
September 20th, 1864
To Lieut. S. F. Mayes
2nd Ga. Infantry
Sir:
We, the undersigned, prisoners of war, now confined in the
Confederate prison for upwards of eleven months, now deem it our duty to
present you with a small and trifling testimonial to show you that we
appreciate your noble and charitable conduct toward our poor sick
brothers as well as the well ones.
This watch that we present you with, is not as noble as our hearts
would be willing to present you with, but it is the best we are able to
find, hoping you may always be able to wear it in remembrance of those
Federal prisoners, who present you with it. Hoping we may be able to
enjoy blessings of a peaceful and happy home, and meet as brothers and
not as enemies
page 8 in a very short time.
Believe us, Lieutenant, to be your humble donors, (Signed)
Francis Fogaritie, 19th U. S. I
John Foy, 16th U. S. I.
William Hogan, 14th Conn. Vol.
T. H. Murphy, 1st. N. Y. Cav.
H. Rigley, 8th Ill. Vols.
J. H. Friend, 16th Cav. Vols.
J. McLain, 16th Cav. Vols.
This is a copy of a letter from Henry Wirz's daughter, Mrs. Cora Wirz
Perrin (J. S.), Natchez, Miss., when asked what became of the watch
given to her father:"
Natchez, Miss. April 13, 1920
My dear Miss Rutherford:
Yes, I did tell you that my father received numerous tokens of the
kind feelings and appreciation of all he tried to do for those prisoners
at Andersonville, among them a gold watch. Often he came out of
the stockade with different trinkets the prisoners had made for him with
only their pocket knives. These trinkets were made of bone -- crosses,
books, rings, thimbles, etc.
I distinctly remember a bone Bible, a tiny thing that father brought
to me and said, a prisoner told him to give this to his 'baby.' It was
carved out of bone and looked like a closed book. The word 'Bible' was
carved on one side, and on the other a small diamond shape had been cut
in deep and filled with red sealing wax. It had a hole drilled in one
end and I put a cord through the hole and wore it around my neck with
intense and sincere childish pride. Many rings were given him not
expensive ones--but the watch was a gold one and sent to him by a
number of the prisoners. When he was arrested and taken to
Washington and put in the old Capitol Prison, it was stolen from him.
Some of the best friends we had were some of the patrolled prisoners
that father had given work around the house, and fed from our kitchen.
He used to say to us when he had to leave home: 'These, (calling them by
name) will protect and care for you while I am away,' and they did.
I have no more testimonials because our old Kentucky home burned down
ten years after the war, and we lost everything, as all of the family
were away from home, and only negroes were on the place. We lost all the
things father had brought mother that belonged to his family when he
went to Europe, the second year of the war besides his passport, his
picture and all the letters from him and all the history of his trial
and murder for,
page 9 Miss Rutherford, he
was murdered by the United States Government. What I have written you is
as true as God's own word. I could tell you so much to prove to you that
my father was loved and trusted by so many, many, very many prisoners,
but it would take a long time.
During a short illness some other officer had to go to the
stockade--father's custom was to go every day -- so the prison key had
to be sent to this officer. There was a drummer boy about 16 or 17 years
old who stayed in our home. He was perfectly devoted to us, especially
to father. We had no use for his services, but father had him paroled
because he was so sorry for him. Father asked him if he could trust him
to take the prison key to the Confederate officer. He said, 'Yes, I will
deliver the key to him or bring it back to you.' Now, he could just as
easily have given that key to some patrolled Yankee who could have
managed to let out all of those thousands of prisoners on that handful
of people at Andersonville. We lived four or five miles from
Andersonville, and that drummer boy rode the 'old grey mare' that father
always rode, and he delivered that key to the proper one. Was not that
devotion?
Another time he risked his life to save my life when we were caught
out in a storm, and I was riding my pony.
I must close. I could not exhaust memory were I to write all day
about these things.
With a heart full of love for you, and your glorious work.
Cordially yours,
CORA WIRZ PERRIN.
7.
SINCERE PRAISE FOR WIRZ FROM
COL. JAS. H. FANNIN.
Certainly no better informant of the true history of Andersonville
can be found than Colonel James H. Fannin, commander of the First
Regiment, Georgia Reserves, C. S. A., formerly a resident of LaGrange,
but later of Savannah. He was at one time the commandant of the post,
and from 1863 to the end of the war, was daily in contact with all that
occurred.
Among other statements made by Colonel Fannin are the following:
"Wirz was a brave, conscientious officer -- gave prisoners every
comfort at his command was the real martyr of Andersonville.
I suppose I should know, said Colonel Fannin, something about
Andersonville, because I was stationed there for some
page 10 time and was
commandant of the post. In July, 1863, the First Georgia Reserves were
organized and mustered into service in Atlanta. Immediately upon
assuming the command of the regiment I was ordered to Andersonville.
Upon our arrival there I found the post in command of Lieutenant Colonel
Aleck Persons, and as my rank was the senior of his the command
naturally fell to me.
Captain Henry Wirz was then in command of the interior of the prison,
which position was entirely a separate command from that of the post.
Within the prison or stockade as it was called, were twelve to fifteen
thousand prisoners of war, and over these Captain Wirz had full control.
The arrangement that Wirz had made for the care of the prisoners was
an excellent one. He first of all selected 200 of the men from the total
number who were to serve thereafter as cooks for all of them and these
cooks were quartered in a place separate from the remainder. This
prevented any suspicion on the part of the men as to any improper
preparation of their food, and to me was a kindly act, though at the
same time a necessary one.
The prisoners were made into details of 100 each and one cook looked
out for this number. What food there was to serve the men was, of
course, all that the fortunes of war would allow. The Confederate
Government had so little to give that sometimes the men were compelled
to suffer greatly. Wirz, however, had nothing to do with that. He made
his requisitions upon the commissary department, which was a separate
command over which he had no control, and when the rations were there
and were given out they went to the 200 Yankee cooks, who served them to
the prisoners.
Sometimes provisions would be sent down to Andersonville from the
North and the handling of such shipments received the most unselfish
direction from Wirz. They were always shipped to him personally and not
one cracker or even the smallest bit of cheese went to any save the
prisoners. A Confederate had no more expectancy of getting any of these
provisions than he did that Wirz should be executed for cruelty. The
strict regard of the man for what was right and just was one of his
characteristics.
The matter of fuel was at times a most troublesome thing and enough
wood could not be procured to build fires to warm the prisoners. The
Confederacy did not have wagons or men and the prisoner themselves could
not be allowed to go upon parol to collect fagots. So as many of our men
as could be spared were placed as guards over some of the prisoners and
in this way these gathered the wood from the neighborhood. The post at
that time covered ten or eleven acres, and to alleviate
page 11 the suffering it was
increased to 17 acres or more upon the suggestion and recommendation of
Wirz. Even then the trouble was not ended, because at one time there
were as many as 40,000 men in that stockade.
Wirz was continually making an effort for an exchange of prisoners in
order to help the unfortunate state of affairs, but the United States
turned a deaf ear to all overtures and no exchanges were made. The blame
for the hardships which followed the confinement of the men was
traceable to their own government and not to any one man. Wirz did not
oppress. He had to maintain the strict rules applicable to prisoners of
war, because with 15,000 men to handle and the large number of desperate
men within their ranks it was far too dangerous to adopt any other
course. What liberties he could grant he did and what infractions were
made had to be punished.
There was no cruelty nor any exercise of authority merely because he
had authority. In fact, Wirz was called upon on many occasions to
protect the prisoners themselves and received their warm thanks for his
decided stand in their aid. I remember distinctly one event which I have
never forgotten, and now that so much has been said, think of the
eminent justice of it all. Wirz was informed by the prisoners that there
were many within their ranks who would upon the slightest pretext commit
murder or robbery or any other despicable deed, and from these men they
sought his protection.
My own personal observation of the man leaves no doubt in my mind
that he was
sacrificed to meet the insistent demands of a
people at the North who demanded his life to satisfy their revengeful
spirit. I was summoned and appeared as a witness at the trial of Wirz
and in Washington can be found today the testimony I gave in his
defense. I saw at a glance the feeling underlying the prosecution, and
although I did not dream that his life would be taken, I felt that
something dreadful would be his fate. Everyone admired the sublime
courage of the man, his fine dignity and refusal to shift any blame upon
others, and I have often wondered that his persecutors could not have
the magnanimity to grant him at least some degree of consideration for
these qualities.
In conversation with General O. H. LaGrange, of the Federal Army, the
following passed between us:
'I know there was no cruelty at Andersonville, and if one man shall
be paroled in Macon with all of his property restored to him you shall
be the one.'
' But,' said I, 'what do you know about Andersonville?'
' I was a prisoner there.'
'Were you one of the batch of officers who came in?'
' I was, and I know that there was no cruelty at Andersonville. You
may depend upon me to give my honor to that fact.'
page 12
Only two years ago I received a letter from General LaGrange, who was
then in San Francisco. He was at the government mint and wrote me a warm
letter of friendship. I remember him--now dead, I believe--the Catholic
priest and bishop, and the martyred Wirz, as though it were yesterday.
Time passes away quickly, but I trust before I go will see some things
righted that ought to be. "
Colonel Fannin expressed the opinion that it would be the proper
thing to erect the monument to Wirz at Andersonville rather than
Richmond. If Andersonville were not chosen, then he thinks the capitol
grounds in Atlanta should be the spot. The idea that the monument which
was to be reared to the man whose work in Georgia had been the cause of
his death and whose vindication had been started by Georgians to be
erected in any other state save Georgia seemed to be inconsistent. He
hoped that the action to send the memorial to Richmond would not be
final and that the tribute to Wirz would rest upon Georgia soil, as Wirz
himself would have wished it.
THE TRIAL OF HENRY WIRZ
(Page's " True History of Andersonville. )
The Military Commission was appointed to meet August 23, 1865, for
the trial of Henry Wirz.
The Military Commission consisted of:
- Major-Gen. Lew Wallace, U. S. Volunteers.
- Brev't Major-Gen. L. Thomas, Adjutant General U. S. A.
- Brev't, Major-Gen. G. Mott, U. S. Volunteers,
- Brig.-Gen. Francis Fessenden, U. S. Volunteers.
- Brig.-Gen. A. S. Bragg, U. S. Volunteers.
- Brev't. Brig.-Gen. John F. Ballior, U. S. Volunteers.
- Brev't. Col. T. Allcock, 4th N. Y. Artillery.
- Lieut.-Colonel J. H. Stibbs, 12th Iowa Volunteers.
- The Judge Advocate was Col. N. P. Chipman.
The Commission was to sit without regard to hours.
By order of the President of the United States.
E. D. TOWNSEND, Adjutant General.
The specifications were as follows:
8.
page 13
No. 1. Said Henry Wirz on the eighth day of July, 1864, while acting
as commander did make an assault upon a prisoner; (name unknown)
inflicting upon the body a mortal wound with a pistol the said soldier
died the ninth day of July, 1864.9.
No. 2. On September 20th, 1864, Henry Wirz did with malice
aforethought jump upon, stamp, kick, bruise, and otherwise injure with
the heels of his boots a soldier (name unknown) belonging
to the United States Army -- the said soldier died.
No. 3. On the 13th day of June, 1864, Henry Wirz, commandant of the
camp at Andersonville of the so-called Confederate States of America did
shoot and discharge a pistol inflicting upon the body of a soldier (name
unknown) a mortal wound from which the soldier died.10.
No. 4. On May 30th, Henry Wirz with a certain pistol did feloniously
and with malice aforethought, inflict upon a soldier (name unknown) a
mortal wound from which the soldier died.
No. 5. On August 20th, 1864, Henry Wirz, an officer of the so-called
Confederate States, did confine and bind with instruments of torture a
soldier belonging to the Army of the United States (name unknown) and in
consequence of such cruel treatment the said soldier died on the 30th
day of August.
No. 6. On February 1, 1864, Henry Wirz did confine and bind a U. S.
soldier (name unknown) and from such torture he died on the 6th day.
11.
No. 7. On July 20, Henry Wirz did fasten and chain together several
persons, soldiers of the U. S. (names unknown) binding the necks and
feet of said soldiers closely together and compelling them to carry
heavy burdens, large iron balls chained to their feet and in consequence
of such treatment one of them died.
No. 8. May 15, 1864, Henry Wirz did order a rebel soldier (name
unknown) to fire upon a soldier of the U. S. Army (name unknown)
inflicting upon him a mortal wound from which he died.12.
No. 9. On the 21st of July, Henry Wirz did order a rebel soldier
(name unknown) to fire upon a soldier, a prisoner of
page 14 war (name unknown)
inflicting a mortal wound from which the prisoner died.
No. 10. On August 20, 1864, Henry Wirz did order a rebel soldier
(name unknown) to fire upon a U. S. soldier (name unknown) inflicting a
mortal wound from which he died.13.
No. 11. July 1, 1864, Henry Wirz did incite, and urge ferocious
bloodhounds to pursue, attack, wound, and tear in pieces soldiers
belonging to the U. S. Army, and a prisoner (name unknown) was so
mortally wounded that on the sixth day he died.14.
No. 13. On Aug. 3, 1864, Henry Wirz with a pistol called a revolver
did beat and bruise the head, shoulders and breast of a soldier,
prisoner of war (name unknown) inflicting mortal wounds from which he
died August 4, 1864.15.
These were the 13 charges upon which Henry Wirz, C. S. A. was tried,
condemned and hanged.
His counsel filed pleas in bar to the charges and Wirz pleaded not
guilty.
His pleas were:
He was a paroled prisoner of war by Gen. Wilson.
No court could try a paroled person. Civil law had been restored and
no trial could be held by military law.
The vagueness of time, place and manner of offenses made charges
valueless.
He had been honorably discharged from the Confederate Army and he was
entitled to the terms of surrender agreed upon by Generals Sherman and
Johnston.
Louis Schade was his attorney. Col. Chipman, the Judge Advocate, from
the start had everything his own way. There were 160 witnesses, nearly
every one prisoners at Andersonvilie.
The banner witness was a prisoner named Felix de la Baume, who gave
his birthplace in France, on the French side of the Rhine. He was the
one who testified to most of the killing. His omnipresence at
Andersonville was supernatural.
He had a good address, he had a pleasant voice and he was
intelligent. He swayed the crowd by his oratory. He glibly rehearsed the
manifold atrocities of Henry Wirz. He held the crowd spellbound. He made
the statement that he was related to Marquis de La'fayette, Washington's
friend, the hero of
page 15 Brandywine was his
grand uncle. So great was the impression he made that after the trial he
was given a position in the Department of the Interior at Washington.
Eleven days after Wirz was hanged some German soldiers recognized in
Lafayette's grand nephew a deserter from the Seventh New York Volunteers
and his name was not de la Baume at all but Felix de la Baume Oesser,
born in Saxony, on the German side of the Rhine. After this discovery he
disappeared and was known no more.
The trial lasted three months and was postponed for the most
insignificant excuses. This was the time that Wirz wrote to President
Johnson urging that the trial should be held.
Out of 160 witnesses called, twelve only testified to any cruelty,
and these testified to cruelties and atrocities many of which happened
before Wirz came to Andersonville, or while he was on sick leave.
Page said:""I was notified to be a witness but was never called. I
was sorely disappointed."
"The pre-judged condemnation of Henry Wirz has only one parallel in
history."
Dr. A. W. Barrows was called for a witness, but when he would say
nothing derogatory of Wirz he was quickly dismissed from the witness
stand.
Not a surgeon or hospital attendant testified to any cruelty on the
part of Henry Wirz.
The Surgeon General sent Surgeon Jos. Jones to visit the sick and to
make investigations and to report. His report was sent to Dr. J. H.
White, Surgeon of the Hospital for Federal Prisoners at Andersonville.
Col. Chipman selected only the portion of the report relating to
atrocities at the prison, the remainder of the report was mutilated. It
never reached the authorities at Washington.16.
Col. Ould was called to be a witness, but when he stated that he
would testify in favor of Wirz he was never called, and his subpoena was
taken from him.
17.
Father Whelan went to Washington to testify. When his views were
learned he was never called.
Gen. Howell Cobb was summoned as a witness, but when it
page 16 was learned he would
testify in favor of Wirz, Sec. Stanton telegraphed he was not needed as
a witness.
" I do not produce these statements to reflect upon Judge Advocate
Chipman, but to show the temper of the times and that no statement from
Wirz's enemies could be credited.
All the accumulated passions of war were concentrated upon that one
man. He was the magnet that drew Northern wrath to satiety.
A prisoner, after leaving the stand as a witness, was overheard to
say on leaving the stand: 'Every word I swore was a lie, and if allowed
to return I would swear it all away.'
18.
Wirz was doomed before he was heard, and the permission to be heard
according to law was denied him. "
His attorney said that 145 witnesses out of the 160 that testified on
both sides, declared that Captain Wirz never with his own hand or
otherwise murdered or killed a Union prisoner-- and that there was
abundant proof in existence to show that the twelve or fifteen witnesses
who swore they saw him do it swore falsely. Not a name of the murdered
men reported could ever be found.
Who, then, was responsible for the many lives lost at Andersonville?
It certainly was not poor Wirz.
Captain Wirz was not even allowed Christian burial.
19.
"Thus ended, " says Page (216)" the greatest judicial farce enacted
since Oliver Cromwell tried and condemned Charles I."
Page then continues:
"I would like to ask my comrades who differ with me and still insist
that Captain Wirz was guilty. Do you know of your own knowledge that he
ever maimed or killed a Union soldier? Isn't it prejudice pure and
simple, caused by the privation and suffering at Andersonville? I judge
Henry Wirz by my personal knowledge of the man.
I have written this book to vindicate an unfortunate and much-wronged
man. "
In the New York Times, November 10th, 1918, Matthew Page
Andrewhad an article about The Captain Wirz Case. The Judge
Advocate, Chipman, was then living at Sacramento, Cal.
In December, 1918, in the same paper, he answered Mr. Andrews, but
his answer was very weak, for he made no mention of the mutilated
reports of Dr. Jos. Jones, and of Dr. E. A. Flewellen, Dr. Barrows and
other reports that never reached
page 17 their destination
nor of witnesses being summoned to testify and never called to the
stand, nor of the testimony of Dr. Barrows as to the impure vaccine
matter that was used upon the soldiers being the same that had been used
upon the women and children of Andersonville, not knowing its poisonous
nature-- he was the witness sent there to testify to this and his report
was not allowed to be made, although Dr. Barrows told Judge Chipman of
his mission before the trial began. Nor did Judge Chipman allude to the
subpoena being withdrawn from Col. Ould, nor the attempt to bribe Wirz
to implicate President Davis, nor could he name a man who had been
killed.
Why did he not give the reason that President Johnson did not answer
Wirz's letter? Why was Louis Schade's testimony not given publicity? Why
was it that Father Whelan's and Father Boyle's testimony were not given?
Why was not Page and other prisoners allowed to testify ? Why did
Secretary Stanton telegraph Gen. Cobb not to come?
Judge Chipman said the trial was a fair one, but he did not prove it.
It was a most unjust trial and he knew it. Judge Chipman said that all
witnesses were allowed to testify. Judge Chipman knew that this was
false.
Judge Chipman did say many things that were true, however, but he was
not great enough or just enough to tell why they were true.
Judge Chipman says""the prisoners were starved while food was
abundant in Georgia, until Sherman destroyed all food possible and then
cut off the railroad communications."
Yes, President Davis ordered the Stockade to be placed in the richest
belt of Georgia, where food was abundant. The cause was lack of vessels
in which to serve food.
20.
The South was not a manufacturing section and the North refused to
supply the vessels.
21.
Judge Chipman said that the sanitary conditions were unbearable and
all sorts of diseases engendered by this.
Judge Chipman was right, but why was he not honest enough to say that
the stockade was built for 10,000 men in "a healthy location near
running water?" Why did he not say that because
page 18 the cartel that
agreed upon an exchange of prisoners was not kept, that 30,000, or by
some estimated 45,000, men were crowded in? Why did he not tell of
Captain Wirz's letter begging for tools, axes, wheelbarrows, carts and
other things necessary to look after the sanitary conditions, when the
Confederate Government was powerless to supply them, and the Federal
Government would not ?
22.
Why did he not tell, at Wirz's request, that the stockade was enlarged
by many acres?
Judge Chipman said the soldiers were dying from diseases incident to
this congestion, and that the situation was horrible.
Judge Chipman was right. No words can describe the horrible
situation, and none knew it better or agonized over it more than Captain
Wirz, President Davis and the military officials in charge but their
hands were tied by the Federal Government.
For the first time In the history of the world medicine had been made
contraband of war.
The Confederate Government pleaded for medicine and supplies,
promising they should only be used upon the Federal prisoners, and only
by Federal surgeons appointed by them, but the North refused to grant
this request.
23.
Northern wives and mothers tried to carry hidden medicine to relieve
their loved ones, and Federal authorities, not Confederate authorities,
had them searched and the medicine taken from them.
Confederate authorities never refused to let the prisoners have food,
clothes, money, or medicine sent by their loved ones.
Captain Wirz had every prisoner's grave marked so that their loved
ones could find that spot when the war was over.
He said that the men were not properly clothed and suffered from
extremes of cold and heat, and impure water. Judge Chipman was right.
While the stockade was in the richest lumber section of the State, no
timber could be cut without axes, and while the purest water ran through
the camps at first, the crowded condition soon made it filthy and
impure. That " Providence Spring " story was a myth. There are people
now living who before the war drank water from this free flowing spring.
It had become
page 19 clogged from the
washing rains, and was opened later by a freshet.
It was Henry Wirz who thought to manufacture a beer to quench the
thirst so that the impure water need not be drunk.
The Federal Government had made clothing contraband of war, then sent
their armies to burn the few factories that were in the South.
General Sherman, September 22, 1864, in a letter to James E. Yeatman,
said: "" These Confederates are as proud as Lucifer, and hate to confess
poverty, but I know positively they are really unable to supply the
things our soldiers need as socks, drawers, undershirts, scissors,
combs, soap and the things our men sorely need more than anything else
to preserve cleanliness and health. " "24.
Ambrose Spencer in A Narrative of Andersonville, pp.
16, 17, says: "Andersonville is in the richest portion of the cotton and
corn growing region of Georgia. The wells and springs and clear streams
in its neighborhood are remarkable for the coolness, pleasant taste and
crystal transparency of their contents as well as for their abundant
supply."
This was the place selected by President Davis for a stockade for
Union prisoners. Had it not been overcrowded by a failure to keep the
agreement regarding exchange on the part of the Federal Government, all
would have been well.
TESTIMONY FROM THE NORTH.
Albert D. Richardson, in his Field, Dungeon, and
Escape written in 1865, says on page 417: "The Government held a large
excess of prisoners, and the rebels were anxious to exchange man for
man, but our authorities acted upon the cold-blooded theory of Edwin M.
Stanton, Secretary of War, that we could not afford to give well-fed,
rugged men for invalids and skeletons. "
Again, on page 457, he says: "Those 5,000 loyal graves at Salisbury
are fitting monuments to the atrocious inhumanity of Edwin M. Stanton
who steadfastly refused to exchange our prisoners."
Page said:"When we heard Stanton's reply in regard to exchange, we
felt that we were forsaken by our Government. The War Office
page 20 at Washington
preferred to let us die rather than exchange us. "25.
Melvin Grisby, in his History of Andersonville
Prison page 138, says:
"The prison authorities at Andersonville permitted the prisoners to
send to Washington a committee of three to petition the President for an
immediate exchange of prisoners on the terms agreed upon by the rebels,
setting out fully and plainly the suffering that was being endured, and
the loss of life daily occurring. This petition was signed by thousands
in the prison, and is probably now on file in the War Department. There
are many thousand gravestones at Andersonville which would not be there
and many thousand widows and orphans caused by the mistaken zeal and
cold-blooded principles of those in authority at Washington at that
time.
When the war ended and Harper's Weekly brought out illustrations of
'the starved heroes,' then a storm of indignation burst over the heads
of their own misguided statesmen, who had refused to exchange.
These returned prisoners told how the Confederate authorities urged
exchange under any circumstances and even asked to send back the
soldiers without exchange and the War Secretary refused.
The storm had to be averted, something had to be done to avenge
Andersonville, so Wirz was made the victim and was hanged. "
John W. Urban, in his Battlefield and Pen on page
381, says: "We sometimes felt embittered against the Government for not
making a greater effort to release us, and among ourselves we often were
tempted to say bitter things, but in the presence of our enemy any
insinuation of this kind against our own Government would excite ire and
indignation. It was a sad fact, however, that hundreds died with a
feeling in their hearts that the Government they loved so well, and
fought so hard to save was indifferent to their sad fate.'"
James Madison Page, in his True History of
Andersonville Prison page 106, says:
"Many of the prisoners, being but human, raised their clenched
trembling hands towards heaven and with fearful oaths cursed the
authorities at Washington, and the day they were born. Oh, what hatred
was engendered for our Secretary of War.
It is true, after we were released we, for policy sake, either kept
silent or joined in the clamor against Wirz.
page 21
The Northern papers published it broadcast that the exchange of negro
prisoners for white was the cause that the exchange was not allowed.
This was not true, for as Grigsby says, "The Washington authorities had
concluded to stop the exchange of prisoners before there were any negro
prisoners at Andersonville."
At the close of the war the feeling was so intense in the North on
account of the mortality among the prisoners of war at Andersonville
that something had to be done to satisfy the demand for-the punishment
of those supposed to be responsible for that suffering, and Major Wirz
because the victim. He was doomed before he was tried. "
An article appeared in the New York Daily News August 9, 1865,
written by a prisoner who signed himself M. S. H.:
"Is Wirz to be held up to the world as a murderer of hitherto unknown
magnitude ? I trust not. In our national heraldry I see an olive branch
for the conquered, not a hangman's noose. Believe me I have no personal
interest or object in making this statement or appeal. I never spoke a
word to Captain Wirz or he to me.
The mortality at Andersonville, resulting mainly from want of food,
want of shelter, want of medical attention, want of hospital diet, came
from a purely local cause, coupled with the moral
degradation
exhibited by some of the prisoners themselves.
Captain Wirz granted favors to our men and those favors had to be
withdrawn because no reliance could be put upon the promises of our men.
The cooks were our own men, on parole, the quality of food, until
Generals Sherman and Kilpatrick destroyed all railroad communication,
was the same as was given to our guards.
I resent a man's being convicted on pictures in our magazines--
pictures of suffering and starvation, showing vindictiveness of spirit,
instead of a spirit of magnanimity and truth on the part of the
prisoners themselves." "
James Madison Page, in The True History of
Andersonville page 135, says:" If you want the truth regarding
Andersonville, go to the official records for the facts. Ask for 'The
War of the Rebellion Official Records of the Union and Confederate
Armies published by the United States Government. Examine Series 2,
Vols. IV., V., and VIII and Series 3, Vol. V., which will show that as
soon as Captain Wirz went on duty at Andersonville his very first act
was to try and better the conditions of the prisoners as to rations and
the sanitary surroundings of
page 22 the hospital. See
extracts from Wirz's letters to Capt. R. D. Chapman, acting adjutant of
the post:"
The bread which is issued to the prisoners is of such inferior
quality, consisting of fully one-sixth husks, that it is almost unfit
for use, and is causing dysentery and bowel trouble. I wish the
commissary of the post to be notified of this so as to have the meal
bolted or some other contrivance arranged to sift the meal before using
it.
Then there is a great deficiency of buckets. Rations of rice, beans,
vinegar, and molasses cannot be issued to the prisoners without buckets
and about 8,000 men in the stockade have nothing of the sort. I
understand these buckets can be secured in Columbus, Ga.
Hoping you will give this your earliest attention, I remain,
Most respectfully your obedient servant,
H. WIRZ.
""
Then another extract from a letter to Colonel Chandler: "Allow me to
point out some items which if possible ought to be attended to. We have
an inadequate supply of tools to put the interior of the prison in
proper condition. We need axes, wheelbarrows and other supplies. We need
lumber, lime, iron, and sheet iron for baking pans. The prison has been
lately added to but badly overcrowded. Almost daily new prisoners arrive
and these internal improvements are of the utmost importance and will
soon come to a halt for want of room. As long as 30,000 men are confined
in one enclosure proper policing is altogether impossible. "
Again, on page 147, Page says:
" Scurvy is now fearfully prevalent. Hundreds are dying daily. It is
caused by not having proper food - a change of food is absolutely
necessary to relieve scurvy.
Captain Wirz was absent on sick leave for the month of August.
Lieutenant Davis was in command and he did all that he could to
alleviate the suffering. From all sides could be heard from men who had
said derogatory things of Wirz " I wish the Captain was back again." "
Dr. T. H. Mann, a prisoner, in his book called A
Yankee in Andersonville, which appeared in Century Magazine, July, 1890,
said: "Our guard used us well, and I would say here that during our
whole captivity we always experienced good usage from this old soldier."
page 23
Mr. Page says: "Dr. Mann, in his book, praised the corn beer made at
Andersonville, but failed to tell that Captain Wirz was responsible for
manufacturing it, and he made it to quench the thirst of the prisoners.
I know this to be a fact."
In General Grant's Memoirs it is stated: "The
exchange of prisoners would mean a reinforcement of the rebel army. An
exchanged rebel soldier behind barricades and fortifications fighting on
the defensive was equivalent to three Union soldiers attacking him."
" The refusal to exchange was Stanton's policy and if this atrocious
and inhuman doctrine is any way meritorious, the War Secretary is
entitled to the credit. "26.
Hear what Chas. A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, has to say in
the New York Sun: "It was not Jefferson Davis or any subordinate or
associate of his who should now be condemned for the horrors of
Andersonville. We were responsible ourselves for the continued detention
of our captives in misery, starvation and sickness in the South."
Again he says: "Of the charge of cruelty to our prisoners so often
brought against Mr. Davis, and reiterated by Mr. Blaine in his speech in
the United States Senate, we think Mr. Davis must be held altogether
acquitted. "27.
Mr. Edwin M. Stanton, in his statistics, gives 6,000 more of Southern
men in Northern prisons died than did Northern men in Southern prisons.
General Butler, in his book, page 592, says: "The reason for not
exchanging prisoners was this, the exchange would strengthen General
Lee's army and greatly prolong the war. "
General Grant said: "If we hold these men caught, they are no more
than dead men, as the time of enlistment is over. If we liberate them we
will have to fight on until the whole South is exterminated. "
Mr. Dana said: "This proves that it was not the Confederate
authorities who insisted upon keeping our prisoners in distress, want,
and disease, but the commander-in-chief of our armies."
It would seem no greater proof would be needed to vindicate
page 24 the Confederate
Government, President Davis, the military officers of the Confederate
Army who were in charge of Andersonville, and Henry Wirz, the
superintendent, and to vindicate them by the testimony of the North.
The truth about the exchange can be found in Page's
History page 895, and in Series II, Vol. VII, Official Records of The
War of the Rebellion.
General Grant's letter to Secretary Stanton is all-convincing:"
Hon. Edwin M. Stanton,
Secretary of War.
Please inform General Foster that under no circumstances will he be
authorized to exchange prisoners of war.
Exchanges simply reinforce the enemy at once, whilst we do not get
the benefit for more than two or three months and then lose the majority
entirely
I telegraph this from just hearing that 500 or 600 prisoners have
been sent to General Foster.
U. S. GRANT,
Lieut.-General. City Point, Va., Aug. 21, 1864.
"
Brigadier-General T. Seymour, U. S. Volunteers, was appointed to
visit Andersonville and other Southern prisons. This is what he wrote:
The Southern authorities are exceedingly desirous of an immediate
change-of prisoners. Their urgency is unbounded, but it is the poorest
policy for our Government to deliver to them 40,000 prisoners better fed
and clothed than ever before in their lives, in good condition for the
field, while the United States received in return an equal number of men
worn out with privations and neglect, barely able to walk and drawing
their last breath, and unfit to take the field as soldiers. It is much
wiser to leave the prisoners where they are.
T. SEYMOUR,
Brig.-Gen. U. S. Volunteers.
PAGE 'S History of Andersonville, page
112: "A gang of evil-disposed persons among the prisoners of war at this
post, having banded themselves together for the purpose of assaulting,
murdering, and robbing their fellow prisoners, and having already
committed all of these deeds, it becomes necessary to adopt measures to
protect the lives and property of the prisoners against the acts of
these men, and in
page 25 order that this may
be accomplished, the well-disciplined prisoners may, and are thereby
authorized to establish a court among themselves for trial and
punishment of such offenders."
General Winder, the commander, felt this order necessary. Cases were
reported where the prisoners would choke each other to death during the
night to get the money and clothing from them.
One hundred and seventy-five were arrested by the court established
and six were charged with murder of first degree and they were hanged,
July 11, 1864. Their names can be found on pages 113, 114, of
Page's History.
On the day of trial Captain Wirz came in riding his grey horse at the
head of the six doomed men, heavily guarded. At the foot of the platform
he turned these men over to a court of their own men, saying:"Here men,
I return these prisoners to you in as good condition as I received them.
I have carried out my part of the agreement, and now whatever you may do
with these men I must remind you that the Confederate Government is in
no way responsible. You will do with them as you please, and may God
have mercy on you and them."28.
After this, execution threats were made by the prisoners to the
leading men of court and the hangman, so Wirz was asked to parole those
whose life was in danger, and he did.
Page says the other histories that have been written of Andersonville
by prisoners do not give truthfully or fully this history, nor do they
give Wirz the credit for bringing about order and stopping the murders
among the prisoners themselves. They do not mention the many kind acts
of Wirz to the prisoners-they are not fair histories and should not be
believed. These histories say that the money and valuables taken from
the marauders were confiscated by the men of the court and used for
themselves. Page says this is false for-everything was turned over to
Wirz for safe keeping to be given back to the owners, and this was done
as far as he knew.
29.
"July brought unusual suffering to the prisoners on account of the
hot weather, " Page says on page 126: "I met Wirz while on one of his
visits to the hospital. He stopped his horse, and I explained briefly
the situation and the condition of my comrades. Said I, " If something
is not done for them at once, in a few days death will be the result, "
and
page 26 this is the
substance of his reply:" I am doing all I can. I am handicapped and
pressed for rations. I am exceeding my authority now in issuing
supplies. I am blamed by the soldiers for all this suffering. They do
not realize I am a subordinate, governed by orders of my commanding
officer. Why, sir, my own men are on short rations. The best that I can
do is to see that your sick comrades are removed to the hospital. God
help you, I cannot.," and his eyes were filled with tears. I was crying
myself. I saw how deeply he felt. He was pale and emaciated. His wounded
arm was troubling him-he said nothing about the fact that gangrene had
set in. I said to myself, "Here is a man obliged to endure the odium
resulting from the sins of others." "30.
Wirz was obliged to have a sick leave for the mouth of August.
The prisoners called a mass meeting July 20th and drew up a petition
to send to the Federal Government.
31.
A committee was paroled and allowed to go in person to intercede. The
names of these men were:
- Edward Bates, Co. K, 42nd N. Y.
- H. C. Higgenson, Co. K, 19th Ill.
- Prescott Tracey, Co. G, 82nd N. Y.
- Sylvester Noirot, Co. B, 5th N. J.
They were paroled for this purpose. Three returned to report failure.
Some of the false histories say no such resolutions were ever sent.
Melvin Grisby tells of it. Page says he was positive about this,
although not present himself, and in speeches at the mass meeting,
Stanton was painted as black as some of those historians later painted
Wirz.
32.
One prisoner raised his arm and shouted, "I hold Secretary Stanton
personally responsible for my misery !"
As soon as Wirz took command of the camp he paroled all the drummer
boys--about fifty in number. He did this to protect these young boys
from the hardships of camp life.
Young Powell was detailed as orderly. He was called Little Red Cap
and later Wirz's aide-de-camp. He was very faithful and devoted to
Wirz.
Some one asked Wirz why he did not wear his sword and sash in camp.
He replied, "The poor fellows have enough reminders of war without my
parading with sash and sword."
Part 5
page 27 Correspondence
Regarding Commander of Andersonville Prison, Who Was Tried and Executed
in Washington in 1865. Championed by Late Louis Schade
Part 1
33.
A great deal of interest was expressed yesterday among some of the
old inhabitants of Washington regarding the protest entered at
Minneapolis by the G. A. R. Convention against the erection of a
monument in memory of Captain Henry Wirz, commander of Andersonville
Prison during the Civil War. The trial and execution of Wirz took place
in Washington in 1865, and the intense feeling which characterized this
trial is still remembered.
A reporter of The Post called on H. R. Schade, son of the late Louis
Schade, defender of Wirz at his trial. Mr. Schade, when asked what he
thought of the action of the G. A. R., said he was, in a measure,
surprised at the position taken by the old veterans regarding this
matter; he called attention to the fact that a monument was about to be
erected at Harpers Ferry in memory of John Brown, and no protest had
been heard from the South in regard to the erection of such a monument.
Mr. Schade stated that he had for some months been in correspondence
with a number of prominent Georgians, and that he was now preparing a
magazine article pertaining to the trial of Wirz, and that the proceeds
of this article would be contributed to the Wirz monument fund. He
added, however, that he did not care to express an opinion regarding the
trial and execution of Wirz, but preferred to let the statement issued
by his father, made in 1867, and a letter written by Jefferson Davis in
1888, speak for themselves. He thought that the letters addressed to
President Johnson and to his father by Wirz were in themselves
sufficient defense; he thereupon furnished the reporter copies of these
letters. The letters were as follows:
page 28
MR. SCHADE'S OPEN LETTER.
Washington, D.C., April 4, 1867
To the American public:
Intending to leave the United States for some time, I feel it is my
duty before I start to fulfill in part a promise which, a few hours
before his death, I gave to my unfortunate client, Captain Wirz, who was
executed at Washington on the 10th day of November, 1885. Protesting up
to the last moment his innocence of those monstrous crimes with which he
was charged, he received my word that, having failed to save him from a
felon's doom, I would as long as I lived do everything in my power to
clear his memory. I did that the more readily as I was then already
perfectly convinced that he suffered wrongfully. Since that time his
unfortunate children, both here and in Europe, have constantly implored
me to wipe out the terrible stains which now cover the name of their
father.
Though the times do not seem propitious for obtaining full justice;
yet, considering that man is mortal, I will, before entering upon a
perilous voyage, perform my duty to those innocent orphans, and also to
myself. I will now give a brief statement of the causes which led to the
arrest and execution of Captain Wirz. In April, 1865, President Johnson
issued a proclamation stating that from evidence in the possession of
the Bureau of Military Justice, it appeared that Jefferson Davis was
implicated in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and for that reason
the President offered a reward of $100,000 for the capture of the then
fugitive ex-President of the Southern Confederacy.
34.That
testimony has since been found to be entirely false and a mere
fabrication, and the suborner, Conover, is now under sentence in the
jail in this city, the two perjurers whom he suborned having turned
state's evidence against him, whilst the individual by whom Conover was
suborned has not yet been brought to justice.
ENEMIES IN HIGH PLACES.
Certain high and influential enemies of Jefferson Davis, either then
already aware of the character of the testimony of those witnesses, or
not thinking their testimony quite sufficient to hang Mr. Davis,
expected to find the wanting material in the terrible mortality of Union
prisoners at Andersonville. Orders were issued accordingly to arrest a
subaltern officer, Captain Wirz, a poor, friendless, and wounded
prisoner of war (he being included in the surrender of General
Johnston), and, besides, a foreigner by birth. On the 9th day of May he
was placed in the Old Capitol Prison at Washington, and from that time
the greater part of the Northern press busily engaged in
page 29 transforming the
unfortunate man, in the eyes of the Northern people, into such a monster
that it became almost impossible for him to obtain counsel. Even his
countryman, the Swiss consul general, publicly refused to accept money
or defray the expenses of the trial. He was doomed before he was heard,
and even the permission to be heard according to law was denied him. To
increase the excitement, and give éclat to the proceeding, and to
influence still more the public mind, the trial took place under the
very dome of the Capitol of the nation.
A military commission, presided over by one of the most arbitrary and
despotic generals in the country, was formed, and the paroled prisoner
of war, his wounds still open, was so feeble that he had to recline
during the trial on a sofa. How that trial was conducted the whole world
knows. The enemies of generosity and humanity believed it to be a sure
thing to get at Jefferson Davis. Therefore, the first charge was that of
conspiracy between Wirz, Jefferson Davis, Seddon, Howell Cobb, R. B.
Winder, R. R. Stevenson, and a number of others to kill the Union
prisoners.
The trial lasted for three months, but, fortunately for the
bloodthirsty instigators, not a particle of evidence was produced
showing the existence of such a conspiracy, yet Captain Wirz was found
guilty of that charge . Having thus failed, another effort was made. On
the night before the execution of the prisoner, a telegram was sent to
the Northern press from this city, stating that Wirz had made important
disclosures to General L. C. Baker, the well known detective,
implicating Jefferson Davis, and that the confession would probably
given to the public. On the same evening some parties came to the
confessor of Wirz, Rev. Father Boyle, and also to me, one of them
informing me that a high Cabinet officer wished to assure Wirz that if
he would implicate Jefferson Davis with the atrocities committed at
Andersonville his sentence would be commuted. The messenger, or whoever
he was, requested me to inform Wirz of this. In the presence of Father
Boyle, I told Wirz next morning what had happened.
WIRZ REFUSES BRIBE OF LIFE.
The captain simply and quietly replied:"Mr. Schade, you know that I
have always told you that I do not know anything about Jefferson Davis.
He had no connection with me as to what was done at Andersonville. If I
knew anything about him, I would not become a traitor against him, or
anybody else, even to save my life. " He likewise denied that he had
ever made any statement whatever to General Baker. Thus ended the
attempt to suborn Captain Wirz against Jefferson Davis. That alone shows
you what a man he was. How many of his defamers
page 30 would have done the
same? With his wounded arm in a sling, the poor paroled prisoner
mounted, two hours later, the scaffold. His last words were that he died
innocent; and so he did.
The 10th day of November, 1865, will indeed be a black stain upon the
pages of American history. To weaken the effect of his declaration of
innocence, and of the noble manner in which Wirz died, a telegram was
manufactured here and sent North, stating that on the 27th day of
October Mrs. Wirz (who actually was 900 miles on that day away from
Washington) had been prevented by that Stantonian Deus ex machina,
General L. C. Baker, from poisoning her husband. Thus, on the same day
when the unfortunate family lost their husband and father, a cowardly
and atrocious attempt was made to blacken their character also. On the
next day I branded the whole as an infamous lie, and since then I have
never heard of it again, though it emanated from a brigadier general of
the United States army.
All those who were charged with having conspired with Captain Wirz
have since been released, except Jefferson Davis, the prisoner of the
American 'Castle Chillon.' Captain Winder was let off without a trial,
and if any of the others have been tried, which I do not know, certainly
none of them has been hung. As Captain Wirz could not conspire alone,
nobody will now, in view of that important fact, consider him guilty of
that charge. So much, then for charge No. 1.
THE ANDERSONVILLE CHARGES.
As to charge No. 2, to wit, murder, in violation of the laws and
customs of war, I do not hesitate to declare that about 145 out 160
witnesses on both sides declared during the trial that Captain Wirz
never murdered or killed any Union prisoners with his own hands or
otherwise. All those witnesses (about twelve or fifteen) who testified
that they saw Captain Wirz kill a prisoner have sworn falsely, abundant
proofs of that assertion being in existence. The hands of Captain Wirz
are clear of the blood of prisoners of war. He would certainly have at
least intimated to me a knowledge of the alleged murders with which he
was charged. In almost all cases, no names of the alleged murdered men
could be given, and where it was done, no such persons could be
identified. The terrible scene in court when he was confronted with one
of the witnesses, and the latter insisted that Wirz was the man who
killed a certain Union prisoner, which irritated the prisoner so much
that he almost fainted, will still be remembered. That man (Grey) swore
falsely, and God alone knows what the poor, innocent prisoner must have
suffered at that moment. That scene was depicted and illustrated in the
Northern newspapers as if Wirz had
page 31 broken down on
account of his guilt. Seldom has a mortal suffered more than that
friendless and forsaken man. Fearing lest this communication should be
too long, I will merely speak of the principal and most intelligent of
those false witnesses, who testified to individual murder on the part of
Captain Wirz.
A PERJURED WITNESS.
Upon his testimony the judge advocate, in his final argument, laid
particular stress, on account of his intelligence. This witness prepared
also pictures of the alleged cruelties of Wirz, which were handed to the
commission, and are now on record, copies of which appeared at the time
in Northern illustrated papers. He swore that his name was Felix de la
Baume, and represented himself as a Frenchman and grandnephew of Marquis
Lafayette. After having so well testified and shown so much zeal, he
received a recommendation signed by the members of the commission. On
the 11th day of October, before the taking of the testimony was
concluded, he was appointed to a clerkship in the Department of the
Interior. This occurred while one of the witnesses for the defense
(Duncan) was arrested in open court and placed in prison before he had
testified. After execution of Captain Wirz, some of the Germans of
Washington recognized in de la Baume a deserter from the Seventh New
York (Steuben's) Regiment, whose name was not de la Baume, but Felix
Oeser, a native of Saxony. They went to Secretary Harlan, and he
dismissed the impostor, the important witness in the Wirz trial, on the
21st day of November, eleven days after the execution. Nobody who is
acquainted with the Conover testimony, in consequence of which the
President of the United States was falsely induced to place a reward of
$100,000 upon the head of an innocent man, will be astonished at the
disclosures of the character of testimony before military commissions.
So much for charge 2.
LACK OF MEDICINE BLAMED.
If from twelve to fifteen witnesses could be found who were willing
to testify to so many acts of murder on the part of Wirz, there must
certainly have been no lack of such who were willing to swear to minor
offenses. Such was the unnatural state of the public mind against the
prisoner at that time that such men regarded themselves and were
regarded as heroes, after having testified in the manner above
described; while, on the other hand, the witnesses for the defense were
intimidated, particularly after one of them had been arrested.
But who is responsible for the many lives that were lost at
Andersonville and in the Southern prisons? That question has not fully
been settled, but history will tell on whose heads the guilt for those
sacrificed hecatombs of human beings is to be
page 32 placed. It was
certainly not the fault of poor Captain Wirz, when, in consequence of
medicines having been declared contraband of war by the North, the Union
prisoners died for the want of the same. How often have we read during
the war that ladies going South had been arrested and placed in the old
Capitol Prison by the Union authorities because some quinine or other
medicine had been found concealed in their clothing? Our navy prevented
the ingress of medical stores from the seaside, and our troops
repeatedly destroyed drug stores and even the supplies of private
physicians in the South. Thus, the scarcity of medicines became general
all over the South.
PROVISIONS VERY SCARCE.
That provisions in the South were scarce will astonish nobody, when
it is remembered how the war was carried on, Gen. Sheridan boasted in
his report that, in the Shenandoah Valley alone, he burnt over 2,000
barns, filled with wheat and corn, and the mills in the whole tract of
country; that he destroyed all factories of cloth, and killed or drove
every animal-even the poultry-that could contribute to human sustenance.
And these desolations were repeated in different parts of the South, and
so thoroughly that last month, two years after the end of the war,
Congress had to appropriate $1,000,000 to save the people of those
regions from actual starvation. The destruction of railroads and other
means of transportation by which food could be supplied by abundant
districts to those without it increased the difficulties in giving
sufficient food to our prisoners. The Confederate authorities, aware of
their inability to maintain their prisoners, informed the Northern
agents of the great mortality, and urgently requested that the prisoners
should be exchanged, even without regard to the surplus which the
Confederates had on the exchange roll from former exchanges- that is,
man for man. But our War Department did not consent to an exchange. They
did not want to "exchange skeletons for healthy men."
Finally, when all hopes of exchange were gone, Colonel Ould, the
Confederate commissioner of exchange, offered early in August, 1864, to
deliver up all Federal sick and wounded, without requiring an equivalent
in return, and pledged that the number would amount to 10,000 or 15,000;
and if it did not, he would make up that number from well men. Although
this offer was made in August, the transportation was not sent for them
( to Savannah) until December, although he urged and implored (to use
his own words) that haste should be made. During that very period most
of the deaths at Andersonville occurred. Congressmen Covode, who lost
two sons in Southern prisons, will do well if he inquires who those
'skeletons' were which the honorable Secretary of War (Stanton) did not
want
page 33 to exchange for
healthy men. If he does he will hereafter perhaps be less bitter against
the people of the South.
'MILITARISM' CONDEMNED.
We used justly to proclaim in former times that ours was the" land of
the free and the home of the brave. " But when one-half of the country
is shrouded in despotism which now only finds a parallel in Russian
Poland, and when our generals and soldiers quietly permit that their
former adversaries shall be treated worse than the Helots of old, brave
soldiers though they may be, who, when the forces and resources of both
sections were more equal, have not seldom seen the backs of our best
generals, not to speak of such men as Butler and consorts, then we may
question whether the Star-Spangled Banner still waves "o'er the land of
the free and the home of the brave."
A noble and brave soldier never permits his antagonist to be
calumniated and trampled upon after an honorable surrender. Besides,
notwithstanding the decision of the highest legal tribunal in the land,
that military commissions are unconstitutional, and earnest and able protestations of President Johnson, and the sad
results of military commissions, yet such military commissions are again
established by recent legislation of Congress all over the suffering and
starving South. History is just, and, as Mr. Lincoln used to say, "We
cannot escape history." Puritanical hypocrisy, self-adulation, and
self-glorification will not save these enemies of liberty from their
just punishment. Not-even a Christian burial of the remains of Captain
Wirz has been allowed by Secretary Stanton. They still lie side by side
with those of another and acknowledged victim of military commissions,
the unfortunate Mrs. Surratt, in the yard of the former jail of this
city. If anybody should desire to reply to this, I politely beg that it
may be done before the 1st of May next, as I shall leave the country, to
return in the fall. After that day, letters will reach me in care of the
American legation, or Mr. Benedetto Bolzani, Leipzig street, No. 38,
Berlin, Prussia.
LOUIS SCHADE,
Attorney at Law.
It would seem after this overwhelming testimony from the North no
other would be needed.
The South made every effort to send the prisoners home to relieve the
congested condition at the prison, and to place them where proper care
should be taken of them, and medicine administered, but the Federal
authorities refused every offer.
(See General Lee's request for exchange).
page 34
(See Alexander Stephens' request for exchange).
(See Colonel Ould's offer to fill a vessel with sick or well
prisoners without exchange) .
(See petition of the paroled prisoners).
(See effort by Confederate Government to send prisoners home without
any exchange ).
(See order to Adj. John C. Rutherford to march a body of these
prisoners across the Florida line and to leave them) . Series II., Vol.
VIII., The War of Rebellion.
All facts can be found in the Official Records of The War of the
Rebellion, Series I., II., IV.
"
PRAISE FROM JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Beauvoir, Miss., October 15, 1888.
Louis Schade, Esq.
My Dear Sir:
I have often felt with poignant regret that the Southern public have
never done justice to the martyr, Major Wirz. With a wish to do
something to awake due consideration for his memory, I write to ask you
to give the circumstances, as fully as may be agreeable to you, of the
visit made to him the night before his execution, when he was tempted by
the offer of a pardon if he would criminate me, and thus exonerate
himself of charges of which he was innocent, and with which I had no
connection.
Respectfully and truly yours,
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
WIRZ THANKS MR. SCHADE.
Old Capitol Prison,Washington, D. C., Nov. 10, 1865.
Mr. Louis Schade.
Dear Sir:
It is no doubt the last time that I address myself to you. What I
have said to you often as often I repeat. Accept my thanks, my sincere,
heartfelt thanks, for all you have done for me. May God reward you, I
cannot. I still have something more to ask of you, and I am confident
you will not refuse to receive my dying request. Please help any poor
family-my dear wife and children. War, cruelest, has swept everything
from me, and today my wife and children are beggars. My life is demanded
as an atonement. I am willing to give it, and hope that after a while, I
will be judged differently from what I am now. If any one ought to come
to the relief of my family, it is the people of the South, for whose
sake I have sacrificed
page 35 all. I know you will
excuse me for troubling you again. Farewell, dear sir. May God bless
you.
Yours thankfully,
H. WIRZ
WIRZ APPEALS TO THE PRESIDENT.
Old Capitol Prison, November 6, 1865
To the President of the United States.
Mr. President:
With a trembling hand, with a heart filled with the most conflicting
emotions, and with a spirit hopeful one moment and despairing the next,
I have taken the liberty of addressing you. When I consider your exalted
position; when I think for a moment that in your hands rests the weal or
woe of millions-yea, the peace of the world-well may I pause to call to
my aid courage enough to lay before you my humble petition. I have heard
you spoken of as a man willing and ready at all times and under all
circumstances to do justice, and that no man, however humble he may be,
need fear to approach you; and, therefore, have come to the conclusion
that you will allow me the same privilege as extended to hundreds and
thousands of others. It is not my desire to enter into an argument as to
the merits of my case. In your hands, if I am rightfully informed, are
all the records and evidences bearing upon this point, and it would be
presumption on my part to say one word about it. There is only one thing
that I ask, and it is expressed in few words: Pass your sentence.
For six weary months I have been a prisoner; for six months my name
has been in the mouth of every one; by thousands I am considered a
monster of cruelty, a wretch that ought not to pollute the earth any
longer. Truly, when I pass in my mind over the testimony given, I
sometimes almost doubt my own existence. I doubt that I am the Captain
Wirz spoken of. I doubt that such a man ever lived, such as he is said
to be; and I am inclined to call on the mountains to fall upon and bury
me and my shame. But oh, sir, while I wring my hands in mute and
hopeless despair, there speaks a small but unmistakable voice within me
that says: "'Console thyself, thou knowest thy innocence. Fear not; if
men hold thee guilty, God does not, and a new life will pervade your
being.' " Such has been the state of my mind for weeks and months, and
no punishment that human ingenuity can inflict could increase my
distress.
GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH.
The pangs of death are short, and therefore I humbly pray that you
will pass your sentence without delay. Give me death or liberty. The one
I do not fear; the other I crave. If you
page 36 believe me guilty of
the terrible charges that have been heaped upon me, deliver me to the
executioner. If not guilty, in your estimation, restore me to liberty
and life. A life such as I am now living is no life. I breathe, sleep,
eat, but it is only the mechanical functions I perform, and nothing
more. Whatever you decide I shall accept. If condemned to death, I shall
suffer without a murmur. If restored to liberty, I will thank and bless
you for it.
I would not convey the idea to your mind, Mr. President, that I court
death. Life is sweet; however lowly or humble man's station may be, he
clings to life. His soul is filled with awe when he contemplates the
future, the unknown land where the judgment is before which he will have
to give an account of his words, thoughts, and deeds. Well may I
remember, too, that I have erred like all other human beings. But of
those things for which I may perhaps suffer a violent death, I am not
guilty; and God judge me. I have said all that I wished to say. Excuse
my boldness in addressing you, but I could not help it. I cannot bear
this suspense much longer. May God bless you, and be with you; your task
is a great and fearful one. In life or death I shall pray for you, and
for the prosperity of the country in which I have passed some of my
happiest as well as darkest days.
Respectfully,
H. WIRZ.
GENERAL TAYLOR'S STATEMENT.
Lieutenant General Richard Taylor, son of President Zachary Taylor
and brother-in-law of President Davis, has this to say of Wirz, in his
very interesting book, Destruction and Reconstruction: "In this journey
through Georgia, (1864) at Andersonville, I passed in sight of a large
stockade inclosing prisoners of war. The train stopped for a few
minutes, and there entered the carriage, to speak to me, a man who said
his name was Wirz, and that he was in charge of the prisoners near by.
He complained of the inadequacy of his guard and of the want of
supplies, as the adjacent region was sterile and thinly populated. He
also said that the prisoners were suffering from cold, were destitute of
blankets, and that he had not wagons to supply fuel. He showed me
duplicates of requisitions and appeals for relief that he had made to
different authorities and these I indorsed in the strongest terms
possible, hoping to accomplish some good. I know nothing of this Wirz,
whom I then met for the first and only time, but he appeared to be
earnest in his desire to mitigate the conditions of his prisoners. There
can be but little doubt that his execution was a 'sop' to the passions
of the 'many-headed.' "
page 37
Part 3
This is the testimony given by Dr. Jos. Jones, a surgeon sent to
investigate the conditions existing at Andersonville Prison, and this
portion of his report was mutilated and never read at the trial of Wirz.
35."
Camp Sumter, Andersonville, September 17, 1864.
Captain H. Wirz.
You will permit Surgeon Joseph Jones, who has orders from the
Surgeon-General, to visit the sick within the stockade to make certain
investigations.
By direction of
GEN. WINDER,
Assistant Adjutant General
War of Rebellion Series II., Vol. VIII., p. 589.
SURGEON JONES' REPORT ( Extracts ) .
I carefully analyzed the waters; found them all remarkably pure. The
well of water upon the summit of the hill upon which the Confederate
General Hospital is situated, is of remarkable purity, and in fact it
may be considered as equal to the purest water in the world. The waters
of the Sweetwater Creek before entering into the stockade where the
Federal prisoners are confined, are equally pure.
The bakery is situated near this stream and while one of the
Confederate regiments is camped on the hill above, these sources of
contamination is too far distant to affect the constant flowing waters.
The water from all sources flowing into the stockade is remarkably
pure, but that flowing from the stockade are loaded with filth and emit
a sickening odor, disgusting and overpowering.
The vegetation of the highlands and hills indicate poverty of soil.
The lowgrounds and swamps bordering the streams are clothed with pines
and oaks of stunted growth. From this examination there is no
recognizable source of disease in the soil and waters of Andersonville.
After examination I was impressed with the belief that this region of
country was as healthy as any region of the world situated in the same
latitude and at the same elevation above the sea and that this locality
chosen by the Confederates for the confinement of Federal prisoners, was
much more salubrious than most of the region in Georgia lying to the
south and southeast of it.
The heat caused the rapid decomposition of filthy matter in the
stockade area, and this may have been a cause of debility--but the awful
mortality must have been due to other causes--
page 38 crowded condition
and lack of medicine rather than to all the elements of climate
combined.
No blame can be attached to the Confederate authorities for this
great mortality at Andersonville.
In this collection of men from all parts of the civilized world every
phase of human character was represented. The stronger preyed upon the
weaker, and even the sick, who were unable to defend themselves were
robbed of their scanty supplies of food and clothing. Dark stories were
afloat of men murdered at night, strangled to death by their comrades
for clothing or money. I heard a wounded Federal prisoner accuse his
nurse, a fellow prisoner, of having inoculated his arm with gangrene in
order to destroy his life to fall heir to his clothing.
The haggard, distressed countenances of these miserable, complaining,
dejected, living skeletons, crying for medical aid and food, and cursing
their Government for its refusal to exchange prisoners, and the ghastly
corpses, with their glazed eye-balls staring up into vacant space, with
flies swarming down open mouths formed a picture of helpless, hopeless
misery which it would be impossible to portray by word or brush. As many
men as possible were paroled and allowed to follow trades.
The police and hygiene of the hospital was defective in the extreme,
but no blame should be attached to the Confederate Government, to the
commanding officer or to the Confederate guards.
Scurvy was not confined to the prisoners. I saw a well-defined case
of scurvy in a surgeon in care of one of the hospitals.
36.
This report of Dr. Joseph Jones may be found in full in Series II.,
Vol. VIII., War of Rebellion, pp. 590-632
A UNION SOLDIER'S TRIBUTE TO MAJOR WIRZ.
37.
A letter received by Mrs. L. G. Young, wife of General L. G. Young,
recently, throws light on the conduct of Major Wirz at Andersonville
from a standpoint entirely different from that of the many Northern
histories that have been written, and of the evidence that came out of
the trial of Major Wirz at Washington.
The letter is the outcome of an article that a gentleman in Helena,
Mont., read in The Confederate Veteran, in which it was stated that Mrs.
Young was the originatorof the movement to erect a monument at
Andersonville to the memory of Major Wirz. The gentleman is now writing
a history of Andersonville
page 39 Prison, in
conjunction with a friend of his who was there during seven months of
the time that Major Wirz was charged with having accomplished all of the
foul deeds charged to him. The letter is as follows:"
Dear Madam:
By The Confederate Veteran for October I see that you were the lady
who took the initiative in erecting a monument to Major Wirz and I take
the liberty of writing you for information.
A friend of mine, an influential and respected citizen of Montana,
was for seven months a prisoner at Andersonville. He was orderly
sergeant in a Michigan regiment when captured, and some twelve or
fifteen years ago he told me that Wirz was a kind-hearted man who did
everything in his power to alleviate the condition of the prisoners
under him.
This was a revelation to me. My friend had sort of charge over about
100 of the prisoners, and was also one of a committee who frequently
waited on Major Wirz. He told me that twice Wirz burst into tears when
told of the suffering of the prisoners. Once, late in 1864, Wirz said,"
God help you, I cannot. What can I do ? I cannot make provisions. My own
men have not enough to eat. They are now on short rations."
For years I have been after my friend to write his version of
Andersonville. A year ago he consented to do so. He and I are now at the
work. He is a prominent member of the G. A. R. I have recently collected
excellent data from The Confederate Veteran.
38.
DAUGHTER OF MAJOR WIRZ.
The contradictory accounts in Glazier's, Kellogg's, Spencer's and
Urban's (Union Soldiers) histories of Andersonville furnishes good
material. Ours will also be from a Northern standpoint. There will,
however, be this difference: ours will be a true account. Those other
histories were untruthful.
Will you please kindly inform me if Major Wirz's daughter is still
living, and if so where does she live?
Do you know the address of Dr. R. Randolph Stevenson who wrote The
Southern Side of Andersonville? I have tried, but cannot get the book.
Dear Mrs. Young, any information that you can give me I assure you
will be most thankfully received. You might be able to give me the
address of parties who were cognizant of the facts, those who were in
close touch with Major Wirz.
Our Northern historians claim that Wirz put men to death, but the
very fact that prisoners themselves were obliged to execute six of their
fellow prisoners is presumptive evidence that death had to be resorted
to to maintain order and discipline.
Part 2
page 40 WIRZ THE REAL MAN.
During the last dozen years my friend has repeatedly told me that
while confined at Andersonville-- and he was there during the latter
part of it--he never heard nor never knew that Wirz personally killed a
prisoner, and that the 'killing' only came out at the trial. Said he:
"The Wirz I knew at Andersonville and the Wirz tried at Washington were
two different persons." There's a volume in that.
The title of our book will be Major Wirz Vindicated, or Andersonville
As It Was, or perhaps, Fact, Not Fiction of Andersonville. We have not
yet determined what the title will be.
The letter was signed by M. L. Haley, No. 819 Fifth
Avenue, Helena, Mont., and an answer will be sent by Mrs. Young, giving
all the information possible.
This letter, coming as it does from the close friend of a man who
went through the enforced horrors of the Confederate prison at
Andersonville, telling of the conditions there that were not the fault
of Major Wirz, is highly prized here, and has been turned over to the
Daughters of the Confederacy.
Strong sentiment against the erection of the proposed monument at
Americus instead of at Andersonville has arisen here, and it has been
positively decided that it will be erected at Andersonville as near the
spot where the old prison stood as possible.
General Young, who is deeply interested in the movement, as well as
Mrs. Young, said yesterday that he had received letters from all over
the country asking that the monument be erected as originally proposed,
at Andersonville.
ANDERSONVILLE THE PLACE.
The proposed change in the location of the monument was for the
reason, it was argued, that if erected at Andersonville it would be the
cause of friction whenever Northern visitors paid a visit to the
cemetery where their dead were buried. It was even stated that if the
monument were erected at Andersonville that it would be torn down, and
threats were made to this effect, anonymously.
But for all of these letters General Young says the place for the
monument is at Andersonville, and there it shall go. He has received
letters from a number of Confederate veterans stating that if the
monument were erected at Andersonville
page 41 they would volunteer
their services to protect it so long as they might live.
" Let them tear it down, " said General Young. " We will build it up
again, and whenever they lay their fingers of desecration upon it the
blood of the entire South will be aroused, and a larger, grander and
more appropriate shaft will be constructed to the memory of this much
maligned man."
The History of the Monument to Henry Wirz
Erected at Andersonville, May 12, 1908
When the Georgia Division, U. D. C., held its Convention in Macon,
1905, Mrs. A. B. Hull, presiding, a resolution was offered by Mrs. Louis
G. Young, of Savannah, that a monument be erected to the memory of Henry
Wirz in order to vindicate him from the stain of judicial murder under
false charges.
The resolutions read:
" Whereas, Captain Henry Wirz, Commandant of the Stockade Prison at
Andersonville, Ga., was judicially murdered under false charges of
cruelty to prisoners; and
Whereas, After an interval of forty years these false charges are
reiterated on sign boards in public places, from the pulpit and on
monuments; Therefore, be it
Resolved, That the United Daughters of the Confederacy in Georgia use
their influence to obtain the necessary funds to place a suitable
memorial to Captain Wirz in Andersonville, Ga., upon which a statement
of facts shall be engraved in enduring brass or marble, showing that the
Federal Government was solely responsible for the condition of affairs
at Andersonville.
Be it further resolved, That as four Federal prisoners were permitted
to go from Andersonville to Washington to plead for an exchange of
prisoners, and when refused a hearing returned to prison, thus keeping
their parole, a tribute to their honor, be inscribed on said monument. "
This resolution of Mrs. L. G. Young, of Savannah, was read and
aroused much interest.
Miss Benning moved that this Convention adopt the resolution of Mrs.
Young, and that the Georgia Division at once take the initiative, and
erect at Andersonville a monument which
page 42 shall stand as the
protest of the South against the slanders and falsehoods already
displayed at that place. Seconded by Mrs. M. L. Johnson, and carried.
The Convention accepted the invitation of Americus for the following
year that they might visit Andersonville and see the possibility of a
site for the monument. Through the courtesy of Mr. U. B. Harrold, one of
the directors of the Central of Georgia Railway, a special train was
placed at the disposal of the Convention.
The visit to Andersonville impressed more and more upon the minds of
the delegates the fact that the monument should be raised, not in a
spirit of bitterness but simply to vindicate the man who had been so
vilely slandered, and to show to the world the truth of Southern
history, and that Andersonville was the logical place where a monument
to Captain Wirz should be placed.
Many pictures and placards placed in the National Cemetery gave a
very false idea of the truth concerning the matter.
The party visited the " Providence Spring, " one of the myths of
history. There were some in the party who remembered drinking water from
this spring before 1861 and were amused at the inscription put there
near a beautiful white marble pavillion erected by the Women's Relief
Corps of the G. A. R.:
A thunderbolt fell with Omnipotent ring
And opened up the fountain of Providence Spring.
A call was made by Mrs. Hull and committees appointed to take charge of
the work:"
The time has now come for the State to take up the work endorsed by
the United Daughters of the Confederacy, of Georgia, at their Convention
in Macon in October 1905, namely, the building of a monument to Captain
Henry Wirz, at Andersonville, thereby in a measure vindicating the
Confederate Government from the charges of cruelty and neglect brought
against it by Northerners who are either ignorant of, or will not
recognize the truth.
I come to you this first week in April asking concerted action on
your part towards raising funds for this memorial. For this purpose I
would suggest that a collection be taken on Memorial Day, April 26th, in
every city, town or village in Georgia, where there is a Chapter of the
United Daughters of
page 43 the Confederacy, a
Camp of Confederate Veterans, Sons of Veterans, or any public observance
of Memorial Day. To this end, I am sending this circular to every
Chapter and Camp in the State.
Veterans and Sons of Veterans, will you not come to our assistance?
Have your Memorial Day Orator make reference to this matter in his
address. Take the collection in your halls, at the gates of cemeteries,
or wherever in your judgment results will be greatest. Surely our people
will gladly give something to such a worthy cause.
The cost of the proposed monument will not exceed $3,500 and I feel
certain we will on this occasion almost, if not sooner, realize this
sum.
If the object is not clear to you and you desire any information on
the subject, I will take pleasure in supplying you with convincing
historical data. The cause of the suffering and mortality at
Andersonville, however, cannot be better explained than was done by your
peerless statesman, Benjamin H. Hill, in his famous speech before the U.
S. House of Representatives on January 11th, 1876, in reply to James G.
Blaine's unjust arraignment of the South, wherein he placed the
responsibility where it properly belongs, i. e., on the United States
Government in its refusal to exchange prisoners.
39.
The Daughters of the Confederacy have never failed to respond to a
similar call from the Veterans and I feel confident their appeal in this
instance wtill not be in vain.
Kindly forward all contributions to the Treasurer, Mrs. C. C.
Sanders, Gainesville, Ga., receipt of which will be promptly and
gratefully acknowledged.
The following committees have been appointed for this work:
On Selection of Site--Mrs. J. E. Mathis, Americus, Chairman; Mrs. J.
W. Wilcox, Macon, Mrs. James Taylor, Americus.
On Inscriptions--Mrs. L. G. Young, Savannah, Chairman; Miss Alice
Baxter, Atlanta; Mrs. Geo W.Lamar, , Savannah; Mrs. A. C. Benning
Columbus.
On Designs--Mrs. John E. Donalson, Bainbridge, Chairman; Mrs. Walter
D. Lamar, Macon; Mrs. T. D. Caswell, Augusta.
Advisory Board-- Mr.L. M. Park, Atlanta, Chairman; Col. T. M. Swift,
Elberton; Col. J. H. Fannin, LaGrange; Capt. D., G. Purse, Savannah;
Capt. W. H. Harnett, Neal, Pike County; Capt. John A. Cobb, Americus;
Capt. R. E. Park, Atlanta; Mr. Hugh V. Washington, Macon; Mrs. H. W.
Daniel, Savannah;
page 44 Mr. Wm. Riley Boyd,
Atlanta; Maj. John W. Tench, Gainesville, Fla; Genl. Bennet H. Young,
Louisville, Ky.
Wishing you a bright and inspiring celebration of Memorial Day, I am
Fraternally yours,
MRS. ALEXANDER B. HULL
President Georgia Division U. D. C.
There arose quite a discussion as to where the monument should be
erected. Some favored Macon, same favored Americus, and some
Andersonville. It was decided to hold a special session of the Georgia
Division to decide the matter.
Several designs were presented for the monument but it was left in
the committee's hand to present the one thought most suitable at the
next Convention in Augusta, 1907. The one chosen was from Clark
Monumental Co., Augusta.
The Committee on Inscription suggested the following:
ON FRONT.
In memory of Captain Henry Wirz, C. S. A. Born Zurich, Switzerland,
1822. Sentenced to death and executed at Washington, D.C., Nov. 10,
1865.
To rescue his name from the stigma attached to it by embittered
prejudice, this shaft is erected by the Georgia Division, United
Daughters of the Confederacy.
ON SECOND SIDE.
Discharging his duty with such humanity as the harsh circumstances of
the times, and the policy of the foe permitted, Captain Wirz became at
last the victim of a misdirected popular clamor.
He was arrested in time of peace, while under the protection of a
parole, tried by a military commission of a service to which he did not
belong and condemned to ignominious death
on charges of excessive cruelty to Federal prisoners. He indignantly
spurned a pardon, proffered on condition that he would incriminate
President Davis and thus exonerate himself from charges of which both
were innocent.
THIRD SIDE.
It is hard on our men held in Southern prisons not to exchange them,
but it is humanity to those left in the ranks to fight our battles. At
this particular time to release all rebel prisoners North, would insure
Sherman's defeat and would compromise our safety here.
Aug. 18, 1864.
ULYSSES S. GRANT.
Part 4
page 45 FOURTH SIDE.
When time shall have softened passion and prejudice, when reason
shall have stripped the mask of misrepresentation, then justice holding
even her scales, will require much of past censure and praise to change
places.
December, 1888.
JEFFERSON DAVIS.
At the Augusta Convention, Miss Alice Baxter, of Atlanta, was elected
President of the Georgia Division. The next Convention was held at
Savannah. The following is an extract from Miss Baxter's speech
regarding the Wirz Monument:
"We Georgia Daughters of the Confederacy have determined upon a
monument in memory of Captain Henry H. Wirz, both as vindication of the
Confederacy's treatment of her prisoners of war, and as a protest
against the unfair trial and unjust execution by the United States
Government, of this unfortunate man. The movement was undertaken during
the administration of Mrs. A. B. Hull, through resolutions introduced by
Mrs. Mary L. Young, of Savannah; Miss Anna C. Benning, of Columbus; and
Mrs. C. C Sanders, of Gainesville. From the time our purpose because
known we have met with vehement protest on the part of the North,
usually taking the form of bitter invective -- sometimes, that of
earnest pleading--from such Northerners as can agree to disagree.
We counted this Wirz Monument as belonging to Georgia, but since its
building has become a matter of almost national interest, we take
broader grounds. As Americans, as well as Georgians, we deplore that
dark page in American history on which is recorded the execution of
Captain Wirz. This Government is our Government. Our Georgia boys are
following the American Flag. We sent more men to the Spanish-American
war, in proportion to our population, then any other state in the Union.
We were under the American flag on November 10th, 1865, the date of
Captain Wirz's execution. We have a right to lament the action of our
Government in a matter wherein we believe wrong was done, however long
ago.
Alexander Stephens said that TRUTH, being based upon fact, our
convictions of truth depend upon our understanding of the facts. We, the
peaceful women of a peaceful time, are so convinced of our right
understanding of facts concerning Andersonville Prison that we hope for
dispassionate historians of the future to come to Georgia's
understanding of the facts and to realize how the policy of the United
States Government crowded that prison at a time when the Confederate
Government confessed inability to care for the prisoners, and to further
realize the terrible injustice of having held one man, and he a
subordinate officer, responsible for the awful conditions existing
there. "
Part 7
page 46 How the Wirz
Monument Went to Andersonville
40.
The special session of the Georgia Division of the Daughters of the
Confederacy held in Atlanta Thursday was one of the largest conventions
ever held by the division. A number of the most representative members
of the division attended this special session as the question to be
brought up was one of the most important and one that the women of the
division felt had been before the body long enough and that some
decisive action had to be taken at this time.
The convention was presided over by Miss Alice Baxter, president of
the Georgia Division. Seated on the rostrum with her was Miss Mattie
Sheibley, recording secretary, and Miss Rosa Woodberry as parliamentary
referee. Two large vases of handsome red and white carnations stood on
the tables and back of the rostrum was artistically decorated with
flags.
SESSION IMPRESSIVE.
The session was opened by a most impressive prayer offered by General
Clement A. Evans, who invoked the greatest blessing of God on the
Daughters of the Confederacy and especially upon those who had gathered
there to discuss an important question. He prayed that they might be
given the grace from on High to see the right and do it. Mrs. McCabe,
president of the Atlanta Chapter, welcomed the convention in a
delightful and homelike way and made every visitor feel indeed at home.
Miss Ida Holt, of Macon, who is a most charming speaker, responded in
a most delightful manner to the address of welcome.
Mr. L. M. Park, chairman of the Advisory Board of the Daughters of
the Confederacy, gave an interesting and pleasant talk which was enjoyed
by all of the delegates and visitors.
The session was held in the large assembly hall of the Piedmont
Hotel, and this spacious room was crowded with an interested and
attentive audience. It was one of the most delightful,
page 47 harmonious and
pleasant sessions held in some time. Each delegate went up with a firm
purpose of carrying her point without any unkindness or unpleasantness
or without any hard feelings to the other places which would be offered
as a site for the Wirz monument and this spirit of friendliness was
manifest throughout the session. Each woman who spoke for the site in
which she or her chapter was interested did so with calmness and
deliberation, dealing in no personalities or criticisms, giving close
attention to the papers of their opponents and at last, when
Andersonville was selected by the largest vote ever cast for this site
it was moved by an ardent adherent for Macon that the action of the
session giving the monument to Andersonville be made unanimous.
The vote on the question was taken by chapters and while Miss Mattie
Shiebley, the recording secretary, called the roll the Novembers of the
Credentials Committee took down the votes. When they were counted and
Mrs. Oswell Eve, of Augusta, who counted for Andersonville, called the
report that Andersonville had received one hundred and twenty-five
votes, it was several minutes before quiet could be restored, after
which there were congratulations for the advocates for Andersonville
from both Macon and Americus.
After the preliminaries of opening the convention were over the
question of sites for the Wirz monument was taken up. It was decided by
vote that all sites be heard from before the discussion of them would be
taken. In this way each site was proposed, and then each delegate was
given the privilege of the floor for ten minutes to discuss the
question. No delegate was allowed to speak more than once on the same
subject until every one who desired to speak had been heard. This
arrangement was found to work beautifully, no confusion being caused and
each one having an opportunity to speak.
ANDERSONVILLE THE PLACE.
Mrs. Robert Grady, the official delegate from the Savannah Chapter,
was the first to speak on sites, and in a few well chosen words she put
forth Andersonville as the only logical site for the monument. This was,
of course, received with applause, as Andersonville seemed to be the
favorite place from the beginning.
page 48
Miss Ida Holt, of Macon, put forth that the city's claims most
forcibly in a well unwritten and well delivered paper.
Mrs. Estes, of Americus, was the advocate for Americas, and told why
that city should be selected.
A number of very strong talks were made by delegates for their
favorite site. Miss Baxter had arranged extracts from the four
conventions on the subject of the Wirz monument, so that new delegates
attending the special session would be familiar. This was very
thoughtful and was appreciated by the entire convention.
INTERESTING TALKS.
The talks were most interesting and instructive and brought forth
much applause. A very strong and well prepared paper was read by Mrs. N.
B. Harrison, of Savannah, for Andersonville, and also by Mrs. Oswell
Eve, of Augusta, for the same place. These two women have worked late
and early for the last three months and have been untiring in their
efforts to have the monument put where it was intended from the first,
when Mrs. L. G. Young, of Savannah, proposed the monument to Wirz and to
be erected at Andersonville. The Savannah Convention, held in November,
which sent the monument to Richmond, those voting for that place were
the staunch and firm adherents for Andersonville, who, after
Andersonville has debarred as a site, decided to send it to the
Confederate capital, feeling that after Andersonville this was the only
place, but from the moment that it was decided to call an extra session
they went back to work harder than ever to put it at Andersonville.
Mrs. Walter D. Lamar, of Macon, who has worked most industriously for
the monument for Macon, feeling that it could teach more from an
educational point of view if placed in that city, read a splendid paper
endorsing Macon. Atlanta voted strong for Macon, Mrs. R. E. Park and
Mrs. Otley making earnest appeals for that city.
ANDERSONVILLE PREFERRED.
The talk which was listened to with the utmost attention and interest
was that of Mrs. Helen Plane, honorary president of the Georgia Division
and first president of the Atlanta Chapter. Mrs. Plane said that she had
always felt that she had obedient
page 49 and loving daughters
and that their mother had had her 80th birthday just the day before and
if her children wished her to live 80 years longer they would please her
by putting the Wirz monument on the only site that was right, and she
begged them to vote for Andersonville.
Another interesting talk was made by Mrs. Meyers, of Fitzgerald. She
spoke of the large numbers of Northerners at her home and of the camp of
G. A. R. and the Women's Relief Corps, and said that she worked side by
side with these people in perfect harmony in the various charities and
good works done in Fitzgerald, and that she wanted to tell the folks
from Atlanta and Macon who said that few people would see the Wirz
monument if placed at Andersonville, that they were much mistaken; that
every year and more than once in the year Fitzgerald sent several
thousand people to Andersonville on different occasions and that none of
the people would go to Macon or Atlanta, and that they did not know
where Americus was. That their reason for stopping in Macon was to make
connection and they got away from Atlanta as soon as they could get on
the train. Every delegate, even those from Macon and Atlanta, enjoyed
Mrs. Meyers' talk as it was made in a humorous and unique way and she
was heartily applauded.
SESSION GOOD-NATURED.
The entire session was carried on in this good-natured way and each
talk was applauded by those in favor of the site being discussed. Each
city seemed to be anxious to send its best material as delegates,
several chapters sending their full number Savannah was entitled to
twelve, but only four were able to attend. Deep regret was expressed on
the absence of Mrs. A. B. Hull, president of the Savannah Chapter and
ex-president of the Georgia Division, under whose administration the
Wirz monument was built, and who is chairman of the unveiling committee.
Also on the absence of Mrs. L. H. Raines, custodian of the crosses of
honor, who was strongly in favor of Andersonville.
Mrs. Robert Grady, the official delegate from the Savannah Chapter,
was most efficient, and although not having attended many division
conventions, acted like a veteran and worked hard to carry out the
wishes of her chapter, which was done in a most charming manner. Mrs.
Grady made many friends among
page 50 the older members of
the division, who complimented her on the splendid way she-conducted the
duties of official delegate.
Mrs. J. A. Rounsaville, of Rome, and Mrs. John A. Donaldson, of
Bainbridge; Mrs. Nesbitt, of Marietta, first vice-president of the
Division; Miss Mildred Rutherford, state historian, of Athens; Miss
Annie Benning, of Columbus; Mrs. Harrison, of Savannah; and Mrs. J. O.
Godberg, of Covington, were interesting members of the delegation who
spoke charmingly for the sites in which they were interested.
Miss Ramph, of Augusta, read the resolutions of thanks which was well
written and which thanked the Atlanta Chapter for their most delightful
and charming entertainment during the special session.
ATLANTA ENTERTAINS.
The Atlanta Chapter entertained the delegates and visitors with a
most enjoyable luncheon at the Piedmont Hotel Thursday from one to
two-thirty.
In the evening Miss Baxter entertained with a delightful and charming
reception at her home on West Peachtree street, all the officers of the
division present and the officers of the Atlanta Chapter receiving with
Miss Baxter.
Delicious refreshments were served by the young girls of the Atlanta
Chapter, and the decorations were of red and white carnations. In the
dining room the handsome old mahogany table was attractive with an
exquisite piece of renaissance with an immense bowl of white carnations
and fern. Vases of fragrant peach blossoms were placed on the cabinets.
Expressions of pleasure and good will were heard from all the
visitors and the special session was considered to be one of the most
delightful gathering together of a number of the most intellectual,
careful, strong and charming members of the Daughters of the Confederacy
in the state, many saying that they were glad that the special session
was called and they hoped there would be others.
When all things were ready arrangements were made for the unveiling
of the monument May 12, 1909.
Hon. Pleasant A. Stovall, of Savannah, was the orator of the day. He
said justice must be done to the memory of the man
page 51 who was the victim
of blind prejudice. Mr. James Taylor, of the Americus, also spoke along
the same line.
The Monument was unveiled by Gladys Perrin, the little grand-daughter
of Henry Wirz. His daughter Mrs. J. B. Perrin, of Natchez Miss. With her
little girl were guests of the Georgia Division.
Misrepresentations in Recent Papers and Magazines
In Le Matin, Paris, January 20, 1919, appeared the following:"As a
precedent no better can be given for the punishment of Germans of all
degrees convicted of violation of the laws of war, than the case of
Henry Wirz, who was tried by court martial and executed after the Civil
War for cruelties suffered by Northern prisoners in the camp he
commanded at Andersonville, Georgia."
In the Grand Rapids Herald, January 24, 1919, a Republican paper,
appeared the following:
"The nations at the Peace Conference are planning to extradite
William Hohenzollern, former Kaiser, and punish him for his share in the
horrors of the World War. In the French legal brief, justifying such
action, is cited the case of Henry Wirz.
Captain Henry Wirz was the commandment of the Andersonville Prison, a
more inhuman place of confinement than the worst German prison of the
late war.
Old prints show the Andersonville commander (Henry Wirz) personally
kicking and beating weakened prisoners and ordering his soldiers to kill
these wretches who had become weakened by prison life.
German prisons were not as bad as Andersonville Prison, and nowhere
in history is there a more vivid example horrors visited upon humankind.
"
A similar article appeared in Collier's Weekly and our Mr. James
Callaway, of the Macon Telegraph, answered it convincingly. The New York
Times, | Frank Leslie, and the Chicago papers had articles just as
untrue
Leon Bourgeois, one-time Premier of France said:
"Captain Wirz's cruel treatment of Northern prisoners resulted in
death of some 45,000 soldiers of war at Andersonville.
page 52 Thirty thousand died
from starvation and drinking impure water, which was the only water
allowed the prisoners; ten thousand died from cold or heat, the
prisoners not being provided with any protection against the elements;
one thousand more cried from the effects of polluted air; one hundred
were tortured until they succumbed to death, and fifty who tried to make
their escape were tracked by bloodhounds and died from the wounds they
received; the guards killed three hundred; and others died from the
effects of vaccine serum, and Captain Wirz deliberately shot to death
several of these Northern soldiers.
The Military Commission appointed to try Wirz found him guilty of
conspiring maliciously, traitorously and in violation of the laws of the
land to impair and injure the health and destroy the lives of a large
number of Federal prisoners.
The ailing were refused proper lodging, nourishment or medical care.
The clothing and blankets were taken away from them by the
commandant. The prisoners were forced to drink the offal and drainage of
cook house. They were bound together with large chains and left for
hours in the burning sun without food or drink. They were forced to set
or lie in one position without changing. Wirz established a deadline and
in many places it was only an imaginary line, but the prison guards were
instructed to fire upon any soldier who might touch or accidentally fall
across this line. In all, the guards killed 300 prisoners, following out
the instructions given. Then Wirz kept ferocious bloodhounds to run down
the prisoners and these animals were incited to mangle and maim these
frightened prisoners of war.
There besides this, Wirz would jump upon them, stamp them, kick them
and bruise them with his boot heels. Then there were cases of gangrene
but nothing but water given for treatment. The prisoners would even beg
for bones when their food was distributed. "
Is it any wonder that those boys of the North reading in France such
villification of the South should attempt to desecrate that Wirz
monument when they returned to America?
The truth must be known or the South will continue to be villified.
Facts and figures vs. myths and misrepresentations : Henry
Wirz and the Andersonville prison / Mildred Lewis Rutherford
United Daughters of the Confederacy. Georgia division
Index
page 53 INDEX
Page
Andersonville Prison 19
President Davis 17, 28, 29, 34, 45
Location; size 10, 11, 17
Description of Stockade 10, 11, 18, 51, 52
Number of prisoners 11
Interior of Prison 4, 10, 11
Provision, cooks 10, 21
Rules; discipline 11, 21
Hospital; medicine 15, 18, 32
Court of Prisoners 24, 25
Petition Sent by Prisoners 20, 26
Confederate Government 10, 18, 23, 25, 38
Officers in Command 9, 29
Lieutenant Davis 22
Sherman's Letter to Yeatman 19
Burning Factories and Supplies 19, 32
Graves Marked 18
Southern pride 19
Confederate Congress 7
Medicine Contraband of War 18, 32
Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War 19, 20, 23, 24
Negro Prisoners 21, 23, 24, 26
Sketch of Henry Wirz 3
Pronunciation of Name 3
Birthplace; Education 3
Marriage; Children 3
Mrs. J. S. Perrin 3
Characteristics of Wirz 7, 10, 11, 18, 25, 26, 29
Personal Appearance 4
Profession; Degrees 3
Soldier; Wounded 4
Minister Plenipotentiary to Paris and Berlin 4
Prison Appointments 4
Camp Sumter 7
Letters about Andersonville 22, 24
Appreciation of Prisoners 7, 8
Lieutenant Mayes 7
Letter from Daughter 9
Drummer Boys 26
Sick Leave for a Month 14, 15, 26
Manufacture of Beer 19, 23
Sword and Sash 26
Parole, Arrest 4, 5
Capitol Prison 5, 28, 32
Trial of Henry Wirz 12, 13, 14
Pleas in Bar 14
Condemned and Hanged 14
Judicial Farce 16
Wife Accused by Enemy of Poisoning Husband 30
Denied Christian Burial 16
Monument Erected by U. D. C. 41
The Trial of Henry Wirz 12
The Military Commission 12
The Specifications 12, 13, 14
The Charges 14
The Witnesses 14, 15, 16, 30, 31
Suborned Witnesses 5, 16, 28
page 54 Col. Ould's
Subpoena 15
Witnesses not Called 15
Dr. A. W. Barrows 15
Wirz's Attorney 14
Surgeons' Reports 6
Felix de la Baume 14, 31
Louis Schade's Testimony 27, 33
Dr. Jos. Jones' Report 37, 38
Principal Witness 14, 15
Appeal to President Johnson 34, 35
Conover's Testimony 31
General L. C. Baker 29, 30
Vaccine Matter 17
General Winder 25, 30
Northern Testimony Vindicates Wirz 19
Albert Richardson, Field, Dungeon and Escape
19
James Madison PageandM. J. Haley,
The True History of Andersonville l9, 20, 21 etc.
Melvin Grisby, History of Andersonville
Prison 20
John W. Urban, Battlefield and Pen 20
Dr. T. H. Mann, A Yankee in Andersonville 22
Ambrose Spencer, A Narrative of
Andersonville 19
The War of the Rebellion 21, 24
General Grant's Memoirs 23, 44
General Butler 23
General Sherman 19, 21
Louis Schade 28-- 33
Judge Shea 7
General T. Seymour 24
Dr. Gardiner's Testimony 7
General 0. H. LaGrange 11
Chas. A. Dana, Assistant Secretary of War 23
M. J. Haley, Helena, Montana 39
Dr. E. A. Flewellen 6
New York Daily News, M. H. S. 21
A Union Solder's Report 38, 40
Misrepresentations 51
Le Matin, (Paris) 51
Grand Rapids Herald 51
Collier's Weekly 61
Frank Leslie 51
Chicago Tribune 51
The New York Times 51
Leon Bourgeois, Ex-Premier of France 51, 62
Judge Chipman 15, 17
Contradictory Accounts 39
Painting Wirz's Monument 52
History of Monument to Henry Wirz 41
Date of Erection 41
By whom Suggested 41
President of Georgia Division 41
Committees Appointed 43
Design Accepted 44
Inscription Selected 44
Why Erected at Andersonville 46
Visit to Andersonville 41
Unveiling of Monument 50
Wirz's Daughter and Grand-daughter 51
General Information--
The Captain Wirz Case. Matthew Page Andrew
16
page 55Benjamin H. Hill's Answer
to Blaine 23
Chief Justice Chase 6
Confederate Congress 6
Confederate Museum 9
General Howell Cobb 15, 17
Col. Chandler 22
Mrs. Jefferson Davis 6
Destruction and Reconstruction 6
General Clement A. Evans 46
Col. Jas. H. Fannin 9, 12
Father Whelan 15, 17, 29
Father Boyle 17, 29
Providence Spring 18
Women's Relief Corps 18
Harper's Weekly 20
M. J. Haley 8
Dr. W. J. W. Kerr 5
General Kilpatrick 21
Abraham Lincoln 3, 5
General Robert E. Lee 33
E. D. Townsend's Memoirs 5
Captain Noyes 4
Col. Aleck Persons 4
Adjutant John C. Rutherford 34
Official Records 34
Reward Offered for Capture of President Davis 31
Col. Seddon 29
R. R. Stevenson 29
Alexander H. Stephens 33
Mrs. Surratt 6
Dr. R. Randolph Stevenson, The Southern Side
of Andersonville 39
Trial of Wirz Unconstitutional 14
General Richard Taylor 34
The Washington Post 27
General R. B. Winder 25, 29
War Department 21
Dr. J H. White 15
Mrs. Louis G. Young 38 |
Notes
- 1. [Ref.]
This name is so often mispronounced that a letter was sent to his
daughter, Mrs. Perrin, asking for correct pronunciation. She wrote:
"Pronounce it as spelled, Wirz--not Wirt."
- 2. [Ref.]
Truths of History, p. 19.
- 3. [Ref]
Truths of History, p. 57.
- 4. [Ref]
Truths of History, p. 24.
- 5. [Ref]
Truths of History, p. 60.
- 6. [Ref.]
Dr. Gardner's Testimony, Truths of History, p. 22.
- 7. [Ref]
This original letter has been placed by Miss Rutherford in the
Confederate Museum, Richmond. Va., in one of the volumes of U. D. C.
Records.
- 8. [Ref]
(These specifications are greatly abbreviated in order to save space
and time). (See A True History of Andersonville, Page
- 9. [Ref]
Although there were thousands of prisoners at Andersonville at this
time, not one could give the name of the man killed, nor the Company
nor Regiment nor State from which he came, although he lived one day
after being wounded .
- 10. [Ref]
Mr. Page makes this entry:" I was at Andersonville from Feb. 27,
1864 to September 20, 1864, and while there I never knew or ever
heard of any prisoner being harmed by Henry Wirz. Had such occurred
it would have been a topic of general discussion."
- 11. [Ref]
Six days he lingered and yet no one knew his name. Note also that
Henry Wirz did not reach Andersonville until April 12, two months
after this incident is said to have occurred. . Page says"I could
have borne witness to this malicious indictment, but was not allowed
to testify."
- 12. [Ref]
This shooting was done in broad daylight in the presence of
thousands, and yet no one could give the name of the man doing the
killing or who could name the one who was killed.
- 13. [Ref]
Mr. Page testifies that this was the month that Captain Wirz was at
home on sick leave of absence.
- 14. [Ref]
The wounded man, mangled by bloodhounds, lived six days, yet no one
knew his name. Besides, bloodhounds do not mangle; they only were
used to track.
- 15. [Ref]
Remember, Henry Wirz was on sick leave at this time.
- 16. [
Ref] See Dr. Jones' Report on pp. 51, .52.
- 17. [
Ref] (See
Page's History, p. 223).
- 18. [
Ref] (See
Page's History of Andersonville.
- 19. [
Ref] (See
Page's History and Louis Schade's report, p.
245 ).
- 20. [
Ref]
[(See p. 22, Wirz's plea for buckets and cooking utensils to
furnish food to these starving men).](GB1008.PB22)
- 21. [
Ref] (See President Davis' order for quality and quantity of
food to be given.)
Wrongs of History Righted, p. 31. Acts of Confederate Congress.
- 22. [
Ref]
[( See Wirz 's letter, pp 21, 22 )](GB1008.PB21)
- 23. [
Ref] (See Official Records, p. 592).
- 24. [
Ref] (See Official Records) .
- 25. [
Ref] ( The True History of Andersonville ) .
- 26. [
Ref] Page's
Andersonville, page 109.
- 27. [
Ref] ( The Wrongs of History Righted, p. 31).
- 28. [
Ref] (Page 115).
- 29. [
Ref] (Page 122) .
- 30. [
Ref] (Pages 126, 127).
- 31. [
Ref] (See page 128 for resolutions).
- 32. [
Ref] (Page 130).
- 33. [
Ref] (From The Washington Post)
- 34. [
Ref] A copy of the paper containing this offer is in Athens, Ga.
- 35. [
Ref] See testimony given by Page's History, p.
15.
- 36. [
Ref]
- 37. [
Ref] ( Macon News, March, 1907).
- 38. [
Ref] This book was The True History of Andersonville by
Page and
Haley.
- 39. [
Ref] (See Life of Benjamin H. Hill by his son, Benjamin
H. Hill, Jr.)
- 40. [
Ref] (By Katherine Latham).
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