The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-11-11
Death of Senator COllamer.
Another South American War

| An0CneP South American Wal
! Execution OF WIrz.--ParticuIars ofthe
SRme--.ETis Conduct.
/ : WASHINGTON, Nov. 1O.-Capt. 1VVirz
was hung between 10 and ii O'Clock
this morning. On the gallows he de-
clared his innocence. He died without
Ie1hibtting any symptoms of fear. This
morning Father Boyle administered the
4 sacrament to Captain Wirz, and Father
| Wigget, also of the Roman Catholic
Church, then placed befroe the prisoner
a black cambria handkerchief, remark
Ing us he did SO, 81 hope this will be
| turned into "A white one in the other
world" At 20 minutes past 10 O'Clock
Capt. WirZ came from his cell in the
lOld Capitol prison, accompanied bV
Provost Marshal Russell and other OIL.
| GERS, and by Fathers Boyle and Wigget,
and passing between the military guard
they assembled the scaffoId and the pris-
!oner was seated. The scaffOld was Il
feet square and % feet to the top beam,
with a trap II feet from the ground.
The guard consisted of the 195th Penn
| sylvania volunteers and three detach-
ments of the Veteran Reserve Corps,
under command Of Capt. Waldridge,
Military Superintendent of the Old
Capitol Prison. There were several
hundred spectators present, besides the
/ military-civilians having been admit
ted on special passes.
Amid profound silence Provost Mar
shall Russell proceeded to read an order
of the War Department, founded on
tho verdict of the court martial which
tried the prisoner. He was charged
and convicted of combining, confeder-
ating and conspiring with Jefferson
Davis, j. A. Seldom, Howell Cobb, Jno.
II. Winder, Richard B. Winder, Isaiah
White, w. S. Winder, r. r. Stevenson,
s. p. Kerr, date hospital steward at
| w. Turner, Benz. Harris and others
whose names are unknown, and who
were then engaged in armed rebellion
against the United States, maliciously,
traitorously and in violation of the
| laws of war, to impair and injure health
and destroy lives by subjecting to want
and great suffering; by combining in
unhealthy and unwholesome quarters;
| by exposing to the inclemency of the
weather and to the dews and burning
sun of summer; by compelling the use
of impure water, and by furnishing
insufficient and unwholesome food to
large numbers of federal prisoners,
to wit: to the number of about forty-five
Thousand, held as prisoners of war at
| Andersonville, within the lines of the
so-Called Confederate States, on or
before the 9th of March, 1854, and at
divers times between that day and the
1st of April, 1865; to the end that the
armies of the United States might be
weakened md impaired, and that the
insurgents engaged in armed rebellion
against the United States might be aid
ed and comforted, etc., etc.
The order also states that the prisoner
was found guilty of the second charge,
namely, murder, in violation of the
laws and customs of war, and guilty OF
| 10th and 18th, which are thus set forth:
that he killed prisoner by shooting
him with revolver; that he ordered a
sentinel to fire upon another with re-
VOlver; and that he shot another with a
revolver so that he died. The order
concludes as follows:
"And the court do, therefore, sentence
| him, Henry Wirz, to be hanged by the
neck until he be dead, at such time and
place as the President of the United
| States may direct, two thirds of the
members of the court concurring there
| in; and the court also found the prison
| er, Henry WirZ, guilty of having caused
! specification IL, charge 2, by means OF
dogs, of three prisoners of war in his
custody, and soldiers of the United
! States; one occurring on or about the
\ 18th day of May, 1884; another occur
ring on or about the 18th day OF July,
| 1864; another occurring on or about the
LIST day of September, 1857 The pro
Fceedings, findings and sentence in the
foregoing case, having been submitted
\ to the President of the United States
the following are his orders:
EXECUTIVE MANSION, y.
November Sd, 1866.
The proceedings, findings and sen,
are approved, and it Is ordered that the
sentence be Carried into execution by
the officer commanding the Department
\ of Washington, on Friday, the tenth
day of November, 1866, between the
hours of six o'clock in the morning and
! twelve o'clock noon. 5I2,i
(Signed) ANDREW JOHNSON,
President of the United States,
Major General C. C. Augur, com.
manding the department. of Washing-
ton, is ordered to cause the foregoing
sentence of Henry Wirz to be duly ex'
ecuted in accordance with the presi.
dents order. .gsa
The military commission, of which
Major General Lewis Wallace is presi
of the President of United States.
i (Signedl Z. D. TOWNSEND, A.A.G.
Il When the reading of the orders were
completed, WirZ converted with thosl
on the platform with seeming conf
dence and self-possession, and It wa
remarked that he had a smiling coun
tenance to his spiritual adviser, wheI
he said, 81 am innocent. have to die
} but 1 can dielike man. Ihope forth
future. have nothing more to say,t
His legs and hands were tied, thu
noosed passed around his neck and tn,
black cap placed over his face. HI
stood erect, without falterfng, evidently
having nerved himself for the solemn
event. Those on the platform retired
to the railing, leaving the doomed maj
in the centre of the structure. After
few moments ofprofound Quiet the drop
Mt apreconcerted signal, fell. The SCUM,
thus occasioned having reached tn
, ears of the promiscuous crowd outsid
> of Old Capitol grounds, hut who wer
not privileged to view the execution
was responded to by repeated shouts o
appreciation. The convict, directl.
after falling, was considerably con
vulsed in the legs, but his agony wa
soon over. He hung about fifteen min
utes and then was cut down. His bod
was laid upon stretcher and carrie
to the prison, where it was placed in
coffin and transferred to Father Boyl
! for interment. His neck was broker
by the fall. The entire proceeding oC
cupied about three-quarters Of a
. hour.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1O.-A special /
the New York Commercial says: It 4
suggested by leading politicians tina
an amendment sane iontnR Union debt
? and ignoring debts for the overthrow {
: the Union be added to the Constitution
and Southern States be required {