Norwich bulletin., 1914-10-31
FAMOUS TRIALS
Capt. Henry Wirz.

brought about by the Civil war was that of Capt. Henry Wirz, who was the keeper of the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Ga. It is difficult to find an impartial view on the subject, owing to the violent opinions of those in opposition in the great strife. When the rebellion was over, and the North ern arms had won, Wirtz was tried, convicted and executed. To show that the South believed him guiltless they erected to his memory, close by
 the scenes that brought about his trial, a monument.
 No viewpoint will be taken in this brief article as to whether he was
 guilty of the crimes charged against
 North or whether he is entitled to
 the opinion of his friends in the
 South that he was ''judicially murder
 ed' and died martyr after conviction
 upon charges of which he was inno-
 cent. The mere facts of the trial only
 will be touched upon.
 The people in the North were
 startled when it became known that
 close to 13,00O had met their death as prisoners at Andersonville. An in- anything criminal had transpired, and naturally the Government turned their attention upon the keeper, and WirZ was arrested and lodged in the
 old Capital Prison at Washington. The Secretary of War, upon the recOm-
 mendation of Judge Advocate General
 Holt, requested Gen. N. P. Chipman to prepare the case for trial.
 Charges and specifications were pre- pared by August, 1865. The following men were selected to act as a military
 commission at the trial: Gen. Lew
 J. w. Geary, l.. Thomas, John F. Bal Her, Francis Fessenden, J. H. Stibbs,
 B. S. Bragg and Col. Allcock When Wi irZ was arraigned and the | charges read to him he pleaded mot guilty The trial began on Aug. 23, 1865, and closed on Oct. 24, 1865, last ing 69 days. The chief charges were | that Wirz had conspired with others to injure the health and destroy the | lives of soldiers in the military service of the United States, then being held as prisoners of war at Anderson vile. There were 13 murder charges against him.
 A large number of witnesses were called by both sides. On the side of ! the Government officers and soldiers who had been imprisoned at An dersonville gave testimony of the hor-
 rfble condition that existed at the pris- | on, and implicated Wirtz as being re- sponsible, not only for the condition, but also of maliciously killing prison CTS.
 On the Confederate side, many of | ficerS, clergyman and soldiAS, teSti- | fled as to the good character of Wirtz. | his experience in similar work, and | if there was any blame, 1t was due | to the inability to cope with the sit-
 uation brought about by the nece)dry
 overcrowding of prisons. In fact, their | testimony was entirely the opposite to
 what had been brought out by the prosecution.
 At the conclusion of the testimony Wirtz, was allowed g. stenographer, | Henry G. Hayes, to assist him in the
 preparation of his address to the | court.
 | The trial was a long one and had of all who took active part in it to
 the verge of exhaustion. At its con- | clusion, and after the Judge Advocate | had made his summary of the case tc | the court they made the findings ac- | cording to the charges preferred, and | pronounced the prisoner guilty of 10 | charqes and innocent of three. where upon the Judge Advocate General sub
 mitted the findings to the President of | the United States. Under date of Nov. 1 8, 1865, the following orders were is-
 sued from the White House:
 | "The proceedings, findings and Sen- ! tende of the court in the Wirz case are approved, and it is ordered that
 commanding the Department of Wash | ington, on Friday, the 10th day of No vember, 1865, between the hours Of o'clock a. m. and 12 o'clock noon. ANDREW JOHNSON" | President" ]" | The prisoner was duly executed by c. c. AuSur, major general of volun- teers, on the day mentioned, and the | body of Wirz was inferred by the side of Atzerodt one of the men executed
 for the murder of President Lincoln, in | the arsenal grounds. The remains were later removed to Olivet Cemetery, near | Washington.