Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1867-04-23
As to charge, No II, to wit Murder,

to nfteen) VINO teStlHeu tndI tney saw Cdpt.
Wirz kill a prisoner, have sworn falsely,
abundant proofs of that assertion being in exiis-
tence. The hands Of Capt. Wirz are clear of
the blood of prisoners of war. He would GER
tainlv have, at least, intlmated to me knowl-
edge of the alleged murders with which he was
charged In most all cases no names of the al
legged murdered men could be given, and where
it was done. no such persons could be identified.
The terrible scene in court. when he was con-
fronted with one of the witnesses, and the lat
ter insisting that Wirz was the man who killed
a certain Union prisoner, which irritated the
prisoner SO much that he almost tainted, will
falsely. and God alone knows what the poor in
nocent prisoner must have suffered at that mo-
ment That scene was depicted and illustrated
in the Northern newspapers as it Wirz had
broken down on account of his guilt. Seldom
has mortal suffered more than that frendless
and forsaken man. as
Fearing lest this communication will be too
long, Iwill merely speak Of the principal and
most intelligent Of those false witnesses, who
testified to individual murder on the part Of
Capt. Wirz Upon his testimony, the Judge
Advocate, in his final argument, laid particular
stress on account of his intelligence. This wit.
ness prepared, also, pictures of the alleged
cruelties of Wirz, which were handed to the
commission, anu are now Oh IeCOIu, oopiOo VI
which appeared at the time in Northern Illus
trated papers. He swore that his name was
Felix de la Baume and represented himself as
Frenchman, and granddaughter OF Marquis
de Lafayette After having so well testified
and shown SO much zeal, he received recon-
mendation signed by the members OF the Com
mission. On the llth day Of October, before
the taking of the testimonyswas concluded he
was appointed to clerkship in the Department
of the Interior. This occurred, whilst one of
the witnesses for the defense (Duncan) was ar
rested in open Court. and placed in prison be-
fore he had testified. After the execution Of
Capt Wirz, some Of the Germans OF Washing
ton recognized In de la Baume, deserter from
the 7th New York (Steuben) Regiment, whose
name was not de Ia Raume, but Felix Oeser, a
native of Saxony. They went to Secretary
Harlan, and he dismissed the impostor, an i'm
portant witness in the Wirz trial on the 2lst of
November, eleven days after the execution
Nobody acquainted with the Conover testi-
mony, in consequence OF which, the President
of the United States was falsely induced to
place reward of 100000 upon the head ofan
innocent man, will be astonished at the above
disclosures Of the character Of testimony before
Military Commissions. So much for charge,
No H.
If from twelve to fifteen witnesses could be
acts of murder on the part of Wirz, there must
certainly have been no lack of such who were
willing to swear to minor ofienses Such was
the unnatural state of 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 !;
whilst, 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 sacrified hecatomhs Of
human beings is to be placed. 1t was certainly
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 into
the Old Capitol Prison by the Union authorl-
ties, because some Quinlne, or other medicines,
had been found concealed in their petticoats i
Our navy prevented the ingress Of medical
stores from the sea side, and our troops repeat
edy destroyed drug stores, and even the sup
plies OF private physicians in the South. Thus,
the scarcity of medicines became general all
over the-South. Surgeon j. 9. Pilot, writes,
letter was produced by the Judge Advocate in
the Wirz trial I'VE have but little more
than the indigenous barks and roots with which
to treat the numerous forms of disease to which
our attention is daily called. For the treatment
of wounds, ulcers, ETC., we have literally moth
ing, except water. Our wards some OF them,
are wild with gangrene, and we are compelled
to fold our arms and look quietly upon its raw
ages, not even having stimulants to support the
system under It's depressing influence; the ar
ticle being so limited in supply that it can only
be issued for cases under the knife.
That provisions in the South were scarce will
astonish nobody, when it is remembered how
the war was carried on. General Sheridan
boasted in his official report, that in the Shen.
andoah Valley alone, he burned two thousand
barns filed with wheat and corn, and all the
mills in the whole tract of country; that he de
stroyed all factories of cloth, and killed. or drove
off, every animal, even to the poultry, that could
contribute to human sustenance. And those
desolations were repeated in different parts of
the South, and that so thoroughly that last
month. two years after the end OF the war, Con-
gress had to appropriate million of dollars, 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 sustain 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
rolls from former exchanges, that is, man for
man. But our War Department did not con-
sent to an exchange. They did not want to
exchange skeletons for healthy men, - Final
ly, when all hopes of exchange were gone, Col
onel Ould, the Confederate Commissioner, of
fered, early in August, 1864, to deliver up all
the Federal sick and wounded, without requir-
ing an equivalent in return, and pledged that
the number would amount to ten or fifteen
thousand. and, if it did not, he would make up
that number with we'll men. Although this
offer was made in August the transportation
was not sent for them Ito Savannah) until De-
cember, although he urged and implored (to
use his own words that haste should be made.
During that very period the most of the deaths
at Andersonvie occurred. Congressman Co.
vode. who lost two sons in Southern prisons,
will do well, if he inquiries, aUho those "skele-
tons were, which the Honorable Secretary of
War did not want to exchange for healthy men.
If he does, he will hereafter be, perhaps, less
bitter against the people of the South.
But has the North treated her Southern
prisoners so well that she should lift up her
hands, and cry ''anathema" over the South
Mr. Stanton reports to Congress, July 10, 1866,
that of Southern prisoners there died 20, 436,
and OF Northern prisoners In the Sauth, 22, $40.
What fearful record Over 26, 900 prisoners
diving in the midst OF plenty! Mr. Stanton