Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1865-09-07
THE ANDBRsoNVILLE JAILoR's TRIAL.
PEN PICTURES OF PRISONER, COUNSEL AND COURT

Of soldiers, came down through the CrOwC
of citizens, soldiers and sailors gathered i'll
the halls Of the basement floor of the Capi
tol this afternoon, to the rooms Of the Court
of Claims to be tried for his inhumanities
while i'll command Of Andersonville prison
One almost wondered that there was nc
outraged soldier to take the law into his
own hands and shoot the miserable Great
ure as he walked with his guard, or sat on
the luxuriously cushioned lounge between
his counsel. That he was safe as any man
III the crowd is new evidence to the inner
ent worth Of our humanity.
The rooms of the Court Of Claims large,
airy and pleasant, handsomely carpeted,
and furnished with plush covered and easy
seats The contrast with the horror Of An
dersonville could not be greater. One end
Of the room is occupied with long table,
at which sit the members of the military
commission, with the tables for the counsel
and the reporters at the right of the Presi-
dent court while i'll the other end Of the
room are dozen Of these handsome lounge
seats The room looks out through two
large windows into the leafy and pleasant
park west Of the Capitol.
At the head of the long table sits Major
| General Lew Wallace, president of the
commission-small and dark, thin and 1.-the,
cold and bloodess in face with the black,
est Of hair and the stcrncst Of countenan-
ces, with very long black moustache and
slight chin whiskers, and, chiefly, eyes that
| seem never to sleep and never to see, and
| yet whose observation nothing escapes
| Next Inn, on the right, Is Brcvet Mai Gen
Gershom Mott-tall and straight as an az
row, with the air and appearance Of first
class business man, or say a man who, hav-
| ing long been at the head of leading re-
tail store has recently become a wholesale
merchant down town. Next to Gen Mott
| sits Brevet Mai.-Gen. Lorenzo Thomas, Ad-
| jutant-Gcneral Of the armies of the United
States--a thorough soldier, yeteasy affable,
and pleasant Of face, with thin side-whis-
kers and abundant white hair-an old man
who seems SO carry young mans heart
| Still lower down on the right sits Brigadier-
General E. L. Bragg, a black-haired and
| dark-skimed officer Of apparently 81 years
and l40 pounds, with full whiskers and
moustache, and a sort Of squarishy cut face
Last ON that side of the table is Brevet
! Colonel Thomas Allcock, of the 4th New
! York Artillery--of complexion sandy of
face, wrinkled of moustache and chin
whiSker, reddish brown of hair, light and
! curly of manner, earnest and cordial.
Next to the president of the commission on
the left Of the table is Brevet Major-Gener-
al John H. Geary, Of national reputation
even before the war began-a tall and
large man with wrinkled and genial face,
having the hearty and companiOnable ways
rof a Westcrner, head slightly bald in front,
| whiSkers and mOuStache full and long and
dark brown in color. Below him is Briga-
der General Francis Fessenden-with fine
! ly cut classical face, head prematurely bald
in front, eyes grayish brown and kindly,
moustache reddish and equal to General
| Wallace's in length. Still lower sits Brevet
! Brigadier- General John f. Ballier, Colonel
of the l48th Pennsylvania "a man of Ger
man descent, probably, whose face is as
much like an Indians in its general contour
as is that of the Indian chief on General
| Grants staff whose eyes are small and
sunken and whose hair is just beginning to
show the gray Last on this side is Lieut.
Colonel J. H. Stibbs, Of the 18th Iowa-a
young officer of good-humored face and
easy Western manners. At the foot of the
table, and facing General Wallace, is Col
n. P. Chapman, judge advocate, e,-tall,
straight, honest of face and pleasant of
voice, with light-brown hair and very long
and flowing sandy whiskers--a most cour-
teous gentleman, and a clear-headed and
able lawyer.
Yet the central figure in the room is, af
ter all, this Swiss-American, Henry Wirz,
whom God probably made, and yet whom
no man thinks Of as brother Is there
family relationship among fiends? Let us
be thankful that this one cannot claim eth
er American birth or education--let us
mourn that the sister republic of Switzer-
land must own his parHntage. WirZ came
in with a quick step and slightly embar-
rassed manner. He is about five feet eight
in height, and Of about l25 pounds weight
He wears a black coat dark vest dark
brown pants with reddish tinge, and white
shirt. His appearance is Slovenly, and he
is round-shouldCrcd and STOPPING. His
head is high over the ears, wanting in the
rear and deficient in the upper forehead
His hair is dark brown, and he begins to
be bald in front. He has full whisker and
mOustachc, cut to about half an inch i'll
length He is thin of face, dark Of skin
bloodlcss Of lips, dark and very keen Of
eve His nose is thin and sharp, his mouth
straight and ineIegant There isn't much
of the original villain in his appearance
though he looks like a man utterly without
conscience and ready to do, for a consider
alton, almost any Internal deed set for hin
by a superior. He set with his legs cross
ed most of the time during the reading O
the charges and specifications, with hi;
right hand against his cheek in a precise
sort Of way~-speaking a word now anC
then with his counsel, and looking up occa
} sionally to the soldiers who stood, will
bayonets fixed, on either side He look
like man of 40 years, but has one of thos
faces always deceptive about age. He an
! swered 'yes" and ''no" two or three times
but it was not enough to show how we'll h
: speaks English.
Messrs. Hughes, Denver, Peck and Schad
are his counsel, of whom the first thre
, constitute one law firm. Judge Hughe
was formerly on the bench of the Court c
Claims, was third counsel in the recen
:, Mary Harris temporary insanity" cast
and is :he leading counsel now. He
! short and square, smooth and forid of fac
and bald of head His manner is colloquia
and prosy. Gen Denver is pOnderOus
body and in manner, and is reported a read
S and able lawyer. His hair is brown al