The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1906-09-19
WRIT WAS A MARTYR TO YANKEE HATRED
xx1 +ba Commander at Andersonvle Prison Deserves
noa,or;o, Was Really Hanged for Refusing to Perjure
Himself and Secure Destruction OF Jefferson DAVIS

The protest or the Gldhu AN
the Republic convention, at Mime
apolis. against the erection OF a mon
ument to the memory Of Capt. Henry
Wirz. c. S. A. commander OF the Con
federate prison at AndersonvllIe' Ga''
naturally attracts attention to the
trial and execution of that unfortunate
and brave Switzer. No attention VIII
probably be paid to the protest ana
none should be. OF all the modest
figures of the Civil War none is more
deserving of a memorial at the hands
of the neople of the South than Capt.
Wirz. not because his services were
distinguished. which they were not,
but because he suffered vigorously
through the hatred felt for the people
of this section by the dominant party
of that dreadful epoch succeeding the
Civa1 War. In his way WirZ was
hero. whose conduct in face of an 1g-
noble death is comparable with that
of his countrymen, who died to a man
ir the palace of the Tuilleries, true TO
the salt they had eaten.
Wirz was hanged at Washington
November 10. 1865, as the result OF
periurv and the subordination Of per
Jury. Ostensibly he was hanged Tor
conspiring to cause the death OF Fed
eral prisoners at Andersonville; really
for refusing to perjure himself to Sc
cure the destruction Of Jefferson Da-
Wis. It was charged that Wirz con-
spired with Jefferson Davis, Seldom,
Cobb. Winder, Stevenson and a num-
Der of others to kill the Union prison
ers in his keeping. Though WIZ was
hanged as a result of this charge, II
is A notable fact that none OF the
other alleged conspirators were ever
tried on the false charge. There was
a reason for this apparent anomaly
however. The Conover conspiracy to-
connect Mr.. Davis with the assassina-
ton of President Lincoln had failed
and the perjurers had been exposed.
The suborners of the perjury had even
been compelled to send Conover TO-
iail to save their own faces. This at
tempt to reach Mr.. Davis with a Grim
inal charge having failed, it was en-
deavored to fix the other crime upon
him. Hence the conviction of Wirz
ON periured testimony and the attempt
TO get him to swear falsely against
Mr.. Davis to save his own life.
That the conspiracy charge failed is
evidenced by the fact that it was
never brought against Mr. Davis and
the others charged along with Wirz
with the crime But a perjurer was
found in the person of Felix de la
Baume. a Frenchman and a grand
nephew of Marquis Lafayette, who
swore that he had seen Wirz murder
a Federal prisoner. Wirz, suffering
with open wounds received in battle
and unable to stand or even sit in the
court room, dlulOSJ ldIntCu oC NV az
dacity and the rascality of this per-
iurer. But the conviction was secured
and the perjurer was given govern
ment position in the Department of
the Interior as a reward for his per-
Jury. The scoundrel was not long,
however, to reap the benefits of his
false swearing. Some Germans in
Washington recognized in him Sax
on of the name of Eser, deserter
from a New York regiment, and the
exposure resulted in his dismissal IL
days after the execution of the man
whose life he had sworn away for
pay
When long Imprisonment and pain
full wounds were supposed to have bro
ken down the spirit of the doomed
man, the proposition was made to him
which had beer held in view evidently
during his trial. On the night preced-
ing the day set for the execution mos
sengers were sent to WirZ's confessor
and to the lawyer who had defended
him, offering him a pardon if he would
implicate Jefferson Davis in the al
legged atrocities committed at Ander-