The National tribune., 1908-08-13
ANpERsoNvn1E.
Some Interesting Facts From the Ofncer
who Arrested Wirx.

Some Interesting Fact. From the Omcer
/ who Arrested Wirx.
| There has been published this year.
1905. book by James Madison Page,
late Second Lieutenant, 9Th Mich. Cav,
| a true story of Andersonville Prison
Pen. and in his book he gives a rose
colored view of the prison pen. From
Lieut.. Pages story it might be inferred
| that this prison was a most pleasant
| resort where in the Summer season the
! prisoners were served with ice cream
| and sponge cake and during the Win
ter months with roast turkey and plum
| pudding.
| In the Journal of the Military Ser
vice Institute. published at Govern
| ors Island New York Harbor. is a re-
view of this remarkable book by Henry
e. Moves, of San Diego, Cal, who says:
las my name appears on page 1877 of
| this book as having arrested Maj. Wirz.
May Z. 1865. the editor of the Journal
| has requested me to write short re-
view of it.
During the Fall and Winter of
| 1864 the whole North was excited and
Mortified by accounts of the atrocities
| practiced upon our soldiers confined in
Southern prisons, especially at Ander-
sonville; brief accounts of some of
these were published in the newspapers,
! ana were more lH1G NeIlllcu wien tic
| exchange of prisoners was renewed;
and by those who were so fortunate as
| to escape.
AT the end of the civil war. and es-
pecially after it was known that Maj.
| Wirz was to be tried, there was public
clamor in the North for a victim to sat-
isfy the desire foT revenge for such in
| human treatment as our men had suf-
| fered in rebel prisons. Personally, /
| then thot. and have always thot that
| it was great mistake to arrest, try,
| condemn and execute subaltern for
| the offenses charged; and the commits
| sion that tried Maj. WirZ evidently thot
so. as they found his superiors guilty of
conspiring with WirZ) to starve the
| Union prisoners at Andersonville. Like
every jailer. Maj. Wirz had a disagree
able duty to perform, and in his de-
| Tense pleaded that he only obeyed or
ders. He paid the penalty, whether or
not he had exceeded his orders.
| In the Spring of 1865 1 was on the
staff of Maj.-Gen. James H. Wilson,
| when Macon was occupied by United
States forces. He sent me to Eufaula,
armistice. On the way back I heard
that Maj. Wirz was at Andersonville in
charge of some Union prisoners Gall
| who were able to travel had been re-
moved to Florida when we captured
Selma, Wirz remaining with the sick
| and a few attendants.) May 18th i was
| ordered to go, to Andersonville and ar
rest Wirz and bring him and the prison
records to Macon, which L did. May
10 1 was ordered to take him, the rec
| ords and "a stands of captured colors
| to Washington and deliver them to the
| War Department. At the trial / was
called as witness to testify as to what 1
had seen and done at Andersonville.
That ended my connection with the
| case"
| AS only a part of Mr.. Pages book re-
| fers to unreasonable prison, / shall
consider that only in my remarks, ex-
| cepting to note that he was captured
in September, 1868, and confined at
| Belle Isle until transferred to Ander-
vile, Feb. 81. 1864. where he remained
until September, 1864 (about seven
months), when he was transferred to
Millen and exchanged two months
| later.
Lieut.. Pages attempt. to minimize
the horrors of prison life at Anderson
vile, and his opinion of Maj Wirz
(page 79) appear to be the result of
what he says others were blamed for
(page $50 and for which his comrades
| rebuked him, viz: "Obsequiousness to
curry favor with Wirz." On page So he
says: "A few months after / reached
Andersonville, while Capt. Wirz was
/ passing me, inadvertently 90 raised
I my hand to my cap and he returned
| the salute. The salute was
the beginning of our friendship; my
comrades rebuked me-" etc.
i Note-An officer OF my regiment who
was captured at Beverly Ford, June 9.
i 1863, told me that he saw Federal
prisoner mobbed and nearly beaten to
4 death in the Salisbury prison for salut-
! ing a Confederate officer.-H. Z. n.
Now for the facts to the conditions
at Andersonville whila Lieut.. Page was
there. These are shown by extracts
from the official reports of Confederate
officials, and the sworn testimony OF
witnesses.
i Andersonville prison was completed
in the Winter of 1S63-64. Gen. J. H.
i Winder was in command of the sta
ton. Wirz was assigned to command
the prison in April, 1854, and continued
in command until arrested, excepting
while on sick leave in August, 1864. =
i The prison was originally intended
to eonfine 10000 prisoners, and the
stockade inclosed about IS acres: OF
this area strip Is feet wide, between
the dead line and the stockade, was "off
limits" for the prisoners. A water
course ran lengthwise the Enclosure
materially reducing the area available
for use of the prisoners. The records
show the number confined as follows:
1900 in March. 1864; 10000 in April
1864; $1,000 in May. 1864; 1900 in
June, 1864; $4,000 in July, 1864; $4,000
in August, 1854.
During the Summer of 1864, on ac-
count of the crowded condition, it was
enlarged by adding several acres A
) Confederate officer (CoI. Chandler)
made an official report in August, 1864
, that the actual space available for each
prisoner was six square feet, there be-
ing scarcely room for all the prisoners
to lie down at the same time"
On page 81 Lieut.. Page says, "There
! was a stream of clear water running
2 east thru the prison." and on the next
page he says the stream running thru
8 the grounds was clear, with quite q
, rapid current, and was not the sluggish
stream, without the least perceptible
motion, that some have described it,
This may have been the case before
the prison was occupied, but it was GER
tainly not the case after it had beer
u occupied for months by more thar
/ twice the number of prisoners intend.
ed for it. The banks and bed of the
. stream were a putrid mass of rotter
? filth whenH saw it, May Z, 1865, ant
alive with maggots. and must havt
9 been in that condition for long time
certainly, for the last half of the sever
months Lieut.. Page was there. This Il
amply confirmed in the evidence o
Confederate officials as published il
Gen. Chipman's pamphlet. In consider
ing this subject it must be remembered
(. that this stream carried the drainage
d of the hospital and the camp of prison
guards (some 80 mem, both located
above the stockade, and was their only
water sIrniV (See chauter g Cen