The Washington herald., 1908-01-26
OLD YETERANSANGRY
WiPZ Monument LaudS Mur-
derer, Says Ferree.
ACT OF SILLY WOMEN, HE SAYS
ReprisaIs Threatened by Mrs. Ball,
President of WOman's Relief Corps.
Commander of Department of P0-
tomac Denies Truth 81 Statements
on Proposed Inscription.

NO one can blame the Union veterans
/ for feeling bad when W. hear that there
is to be a monument erected IN the faii
/ Southland to man who was tried, con-
F victed, and hung for numbering our help
4 less comrades who had surrendered ir
honorable warfare.
Il believe that true soldiers Of IN,
South ana ali faiI-milded people vii
condemn the erection Of this monument
as the act of lot of silly and weak
minded women. whose sole object Is tC
gain notoriety After all. their act vii
only be advertising the fact that they ar,
erecting "a monument TO "a murderer"
These are sentiments expressed by New.
/ ton Ferree. commander Of the Depart
ment Of the Potomac, Grand Army of the
/ Republic, regarding the monument and its
Inscription TO be erected by the Georgia
Division, Daughters Of the Confederacy
at Andersonville. 10 the memory Of Mai
Henry Wlrz c. s. A, who was in charg,
of the prison at Andersonviue during tAt
/ civil war
HepTiSHIs Are Threatened.
i promise for the Womans Relief
/ Corps that If this monument is erected To
Wirz. every placard that we took from
our park at Andersonvflle. at the requss ST
/ Of our Southern sisters, viii be put back
and others more significant will be placed
there"
Mrs Isabel Worreil Ball. president OF
the Department OF the Potomac. Woman.
Relief Corps. utters this threat of reurisal
Members of the Grand Army of ths
Republic. In this city. are aroused Over
the fact that inscriptions mc0mpli-
m"HlaIE 20 nc government OF this cGuu-
try are To - inscribed oa tho monument
u Is thought some action viii be taken
/ oy the members OF tine g. 4. r 20 nre.
vent tAe erection OF the monument.
Calculated to Reopen old wounds
Commander Ferree said last night that
lac deprecated the erection OF the mong.
ment "as things of thar sort have a
tendency 70 break Up the good feelfue
now existing between the North and
South"
Wirz was cruel Leartless murderer
and not brave OF gallant soldier" said
/ Commander Ferree. Hanging was TOO
good for him. lie was not a field sol
der. but prison keeper. and had never
performer du act that would even sntirIs
him 20 the little white slab that marks the
grave OF the average veteran. much les,
a monument TO his memory.
'Wirz was the tool of his suparior
officer, Gen. Winder There is nor tbs
| least doubt he was glaa 10 carry our
cruel orders and went farther than he
was told. Winder sh0uld have met tie
same fate that bcfell his subordinate.
When these two men left Richmond
in February, 1861. 10 20 10 AndersonvIIe
AlT. Pollard, the Southern historian. in the
Richmond Wnig said. Thank God. those
demons WiTz and Winder. have gone
from our midst. bat God have mercy
upon the poor uuf0rtunates who shall
fan into their hands This was the gen
eral opinion of the better class Of South
ern people.
Shortly after Wirz and Winder reach
ed Andersonvilla many OF tie best peopl.
/ I'm the immediate vicinity protested 10 IN,
Confederate government against the crue
treatment of the Union prisoners. A com
mission was sent down 10 the prison som,
I time later 10 smooth things over TH,
report turned in by them 10 the govern
ment condemned the atrocities of Wir-
/ In the strongest language.
II wish 10 refute the statement tha
more Confederate prisoners died IN North
ern prisons than Federal prisoners il
Southern prisons
Records in the War Department show
that +59654 C0ufederates were captured
/ during the war and that the greater
/ part Of these were either released. pa.
rolled. or exchanged OF the 272g0 thai
were held as prisoners for any length OF
/ time only Lies died.
There were 940p0 Federal prisoner.
! held by the Coufederates during the war
and OF these 1926 died.
These figures were given me by Robert
3. Brown, commauder-in-chief of the
Grand Army Of the Republic. He stated
! they were authentic beyond doubt.
AT different times during the war ]
was stationed at Camp Chase and Fort
Delaware. where more than 1900 South
erners were kept in confinement The
prisoners ate the same food as the mer
who guarded them. and slept i1 the sam,
quarters ] never heard q prisoner com.
plain Of i'll treatment, and I talked with
hundreds Of them
AT AudersouviIIe the prisoners were
confined in a stockade. without shelter
from rain or sun. and their food was
thrown TO them ike dogs
Monument and Inscription.
The monument 10 Mai. Wirz is 10 be
unveiled on jefferson Davis birthday.
The inscriptions were written by Mrs
Gourdin Young, historian of the Georgia
Division, L. d, c.
There viii be an inscription upon each
of the four sides Of the monument on
the face of the monument will be this
legend:
In memory Of Maj. Henry Wirz, C. s
\. Born in Zurich. Switzerland
Tried by illegal court-martial under
false charges Of excessive cruelty "a
Federal prisoners. sentenced and judicial
Iy murdered at Washington. d. c, No
vember 10. 1867
That the United States government
not Mai. WirZ. is chargeable with the
suffering at Andersonville. there is
abundant proof furnished by friend and
foe. Let the fact that ne chose an
ignominious death rather than bear false
witness against President Davis speak
for his high qualities of honor. fortitude
and self-sacTifiCe.
To rescue his memory from the stigma
attached to it by imbettered prejudice and
ignorance and 10 restore it 10 fts rightful
place among men, the Georgia Division
of the United Daughters of the Confed-
eracy has raised this shaft"
The other inscriptions contain quota
tions from a letter of Cen. Grant show
ing the United States would not exchange
prisoners, extracts from records showing
more men died in Federal than Confed-
crate prisons, and an extract from a let
ter written by jefferson Davis showing
Wirz to have been offered d pardon to
incriminate him, but had refused to do so.
These inscriptions were selected at a