The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-25 00:00:00

The Execution of Captain Wirz.

The execution took place, on the 10th inst., of Captain
Wirz, who was convicted of practising murderous cruelty
on the Federal prisoners of war under his charge in the
Confederate prison at Andersonville, of which he was
governor. 1, On the evening of Thursday, Nov. 9, the pri-
soner was informed that he was to die on the morrow. He
appeared unmoved at the information, having fully ex-
pected it, and, after eating his Supper as usual, retired to
rest, and slept soundly during the night. After breakfast
on Friday morning he took leave of Winder, who had
been associated with him in the management of the prison
at Andersonville, and other friends, and at ten o'clock he
was informed that it was time to proceed to the scaffold,
erected in the prison yard. His demeanour throughout
was quiet, and devoid of any exhibition of fear or ner-
vousness. Referring to the black shroud, he remarked that
he "hoped to have a white gown soon." The officers pro-
ceeded to pinion his arms behind his back, but found the
handcuffs would not slip on to his right arm, it being much
swollen. His limbs were therefore all left free until ho
reached the scaffold. As they were leaving the room, Wirz
turned to the mantel, and with as much nonchalance as if
he had been in a bar-room, took up a bottle of whisky, and
pouring out a draught, drank it with apparent relish. Then,
taking out a chew of tobacco, he took his place in the pro-
cession, which was led by the Provost Marshal, afterswhom
came the two priests, then Wirz, the guards next, and Capt.
Wallbridge in the rear. Thus they mounted the scaffold,
the prisoner exhibiting much steadiness in his movements.
Stepping upon the trap, he seated himself upon a stool,
the noose dangling over his head. Major Russell then
proceeded to read the order, reciting the finding of the
court, and the approval of the sentence by the President.
The order stated that the prisoner was found guilty of the
second charge, viz., murder, in violatidn of the laws and
customs of war, and guilty of all the specifications, except
the fourth, tenth, and thirteenth, which three set forth that
he killed a prisoner by shooting him with a revolver ; that
he ordered a sentinel to fire upon another with a revolver;
and that he shot another with a revolver, so that ho died.
The reading was finished at 10.20, and Wirz was directed
to stand up. , Major Russell asked him if he had anything
to say publicly, to which he replied "No." Father Boyle
then recited the service of the Catholic Church for tho
dying, to which Wirz responded in a low tone. During
these few moments shouts could be heard from the soldiers
in the tree tops of " Hang him," "Andersonville," "Re-
member Andersonville," and others not calculated to in-
crease his calm demeanour, but he paid no attention to
them, and preserved his cheerful expression of countenance
throughout.
At thirty minutes past ten, his hands and legs having
been pinioned by straps, the noose was adjusted by L. J.
Richardion, military detective, and the doomed man
shook hands with the priests and officers. At exactly
thirty-two minutes past ten, Sylvester Ballou, another
detective, at the signal of the Provost Marshal, put his
foot upon the fatal spring, the trap fell with a heavy
noise, and Wirz was dangling in the air. There wore a
few spasmodic convulsions of the chest, a slight move-
ment of the extremities, and all was over. When it was
known in the street that Wirz was hanged, the soldiers
sent up a loud ringing cheer. After hanging fourteen
minutes the body was examined by Post-Surgeon Ford,
and life pronounced to be extinct. It was then taken
down, placed upon a stretcher, and carried to the hospi-
tal, where the surgeons took charge of it. No sooner had
the scaffold and the rope been relieved of their ghastly
burden than relic-seekers began their work. Splinters
from the scaffold were cut off like kindling wood, and a
dozen feet of rope disappearedalmost instantly. Only the in-
terposition of the guard saved the whole thing from being
carried off in this manner. The surgeons held a post-
mortem, and an examination of the neck showed the ver-
tebrze to be dislocated. His right arm, which had been
the chief cause of his physical misery, was iu a very bad
condition, in consequence of an old wound having broken
out afresh. His body also, showed severe scrofulous erup-
tions. Agreeably to a request from Wirz, Father Boyle
received the body on the following day, and delivered it
to an undertaker.

The condemned man's counsel, Mr. Schade, had made
strenuous efforts to save him. In connection with these
the following statements aro included in the Washington
despatches of the 10th :
Mr. Schade again called upon the President this morn-
ing to make a final effort to save Captain Wirz from the
death penalty, but at that time, unknown to him, the pri-
soner had been hanged. The President, however, could
see no reason for changing the sentence, and stated that
Mr. Schade was the only one who made an earnest appeal
in behalf of the prisoner. When, between 8 and 9 a.m.,
Mr. Schade took leave of Capt. Wirz, the latter expressed
his thanks for what he had dono for him, and regretted it
was not in his power to reward him. Mr. Schade said he
trusted he would die like a man ; to which Capt. Wirz re-
plied, It is hardly necessary to tell me that ; I intend
to die like a man." Mr. Schado says he was called upon
by several persons last night (as was also Father Boyle),
who communicated information, purporting to come from
a member of the Cabinet, to the effect that if Wirz would
acknowledge that Jeff. Davis was connected with the atro-
cities at Andorsonville his sentence would be commuted.
Although Mr. Schade did not place full confidence in the
reports, he considered it his duty to relate what the priso-
ner, at his last conference with him, said. Capt. Wirz, in
reply, said, "Mr. Schade, you know I have always told you
I did not know anything about Jeff. Davis. He had no
connection with me as to what was done at Andersonville,
and if I knew he had I would not become a traitor against
him or any one else to save my life." Among his last acts
Capt. Wirz addressed a letter to Mr. 0. S. Baker, one of his
counsel, in which he remarked he had not said a word that
could be construed into a reflection upon him. He merely
stated that he had not solicited him as his counsel at first,
but accepted of his services cheerfully. He concluded as
follows :—"I will say again, as 1 have said before, that I
believe you hare done all you could for me, and therefore
accept my thanks—the thanks of a dying man."
The following letter was written by Wirz before mount-
ing the gallows :—" Old Capitol Prison, Nov. 10.—Mr.
Schade.—Dear Sir,—lt is no doubt the last time I address
myself to you. What I have said to you often and often,
I repeat. Accept my thanks—my sincere, heartfelt
thanks—for all you have done for me. May God reward
you; I cannot. Still I have something more to ask of
you, and I am confident that you will not refuse to re-
ceive my dying request. Please help my poor family—.
my dear wife and children. War, cruel war, has swept
everything from me, and to-day my wife and children are
beggars. My life is demanded as an atonement. I am
willing to give it ; and I hope after a while I will be
judged differently from what lam 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 all. I know you
will excuse me for troubling you again. Farewell, dear
sir. May God bless you.--Your thankful, H. Wm."
The following singular narrative of an attempt alleged to
have been made by Mrs. Wirz to pass some poison to her
husband is supplied from Washington. In one of the in-
terviews between Captain Wirz and his wife, at which
General Baker was officially present, on October 27, the
lady on her departure advanced to kiss her husband. "It
was not a quick, passionate kiss," says the Washington
narrator, " but General Baker noticed that they occupied
longer time than necessary, and that the movements of
their lips were rather peculiar for a kiss. As their lips
parted. General Baker was convinced that she had passed
something from her mouth into his, and that he was
about to swallow it. He sprang towards Wirz, and caught
him by the throat, partly choking him for the instant.
General ;Baker commanded him to open his mouth, and
as he did so he spat out a little ball, which he had partly
crushed, and which General Baker had picked up. It was
somewhat smaller than an acorn, and was ascertained to
be strychnine, enclosed in oil silk, and coated with
liquorice. It is now in General Baker's possession. In
getting up Mrs. Wirz had probably dexterously conveyed
it to his mouth. In an instant more Wirz would have
swallowed it, and as soon as the outside coating had dis-
solved in his stomach, it would have caused his immediate
death. Mrs. Wirz was not again allowed to visit the cell.
She left the city nearly two weeks ago, not waiting either
to hear her husband's sentence, or to see him again before
his death."

Gen. Longstreet, while in Washington recently,
declared that the rebellion could and would have succeeded
had it not been for the incapacity of Jefferson Davis, whose
intermeddling destroyed all their hopes ; and that on
several occasions he prevented the rebels from taking
Washington and making it their base for offensive ope-
rations.