HENRY WIRZ – WAR CRIMINAL

                Henry Wirz was one of the villains of the Civil War and one of only two men who were executed for war crimes after the war.  Wirz was a Swiss immigrant at age 26.  He settled in the South and when the war broke out he enlisted in the Confederate army.  He claimed to have been wounded early in the war and lost feeling in his right arm.  He was assigned to guard prisoners in Richmond and he caught the attention of Inspector General John Winder who promoted him to commandant of a prison in Alabama.  He also did odd jobs like escorting prisoners and arranging exchanges.  In early  1864, he was given command of Camp Sumter, Georgia.  It is better known as Andersonville.  It was a difficult task.  The camp was built for 10,000, but held 32,000 at its peak.  It was the fifth largest city in the South.  A polluted stream was the only source of water.  Diseases (like cholera) ran rampant.  No barracks were built.  Food was lacking and poor.  Medicine was not nearly enough to deal with health problems.  Wirz begged for more supplies, but there was no increase. However, some of the supplies sent to Wirz did not find their way to the prisoners.  The Union decision to end prisoner exchanges in 1864 meant that the overcrowding continued to grow.  Wirz released five prisoners to petition the North for a return to exchanges, but the North saw no military benefit to returning to the policy.  In the end, 28% (13,000 0f 45,000 of his prisoners died.  Soon after the war, Wirz was arrested and put on trial by a military tribunal.  He was charged with 13 counts of mistreatment, cruelty, and murder.  160 witnesses were called and some gave false testimony, but it was clear that Wirz had ruled by fear and the threat of punishment (ex. stockades and dogs).   Some were sympathetic to the insurmountable problems Wirz had to deal with, but most had horrific tales to tell.  The counts included shooting prisoners, beating them, putting them in stocks, and sicking dogs on them. He was convicted on all the counts except one.  The assassination of Lincoln and negative newspaper coverage of the Wirz trial probably had some influence on the jury.   In his cell, he was offered a deal where he would implicate Jefferson Davis in exchange for a commutation.  He refused.  On November 10, 1865 he was hanged.  Unfortunately, his neck did not break and he died from strangling.  His last words were:  “I know what orders are, Major.  I am being hanged for obeying them.” He and guerrilla leader Champ Ferguson were the only ones executed for war crimes after the war.  Since then he has become a polarizing figure.  Some Southerners made him into a martyr to the Lost Cause.  The Daughters of the Confederacy put up a statue of him at Andersonville. 

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/henry-wirz-hanged

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wirz