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Histories
Currents
The Trial Of Henry Wirz
Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the tragic American Civil
War was the treatment of prisoners in both the North and
South. Until late 1863 both sides agreed to exchange prisoners
of war based upon a formula generally accepted by most European
nations of the time. Usually after a battle the prisoners
would be exchanged or paroled until the proper exchange
could be made. By late 1863 this practice was ending, in
part because the Confederacy failed to treat the United
States Colored Troops as prisoners of war, and also because
the North realized that the return of the POWs only helped
the South (short of manpower) sustain its armies. By the
time U.S. Grant took over the Union Armies in 1864, POW
exchanges were a thing of the past, and prison camps grew
in the North and South.
Life in a Civil War prison camp was horrible on both sides
of the Mason-Dixon Line. Food was poor, and medical attention
was worse. There was always a problem with overcrowding,
and the thousands of prisoners generated tremendous waste
causing sanitation problems. The prison that came to represent
all the evils of Civil War prisons was Andersonville Prison
in Central Georgia, commanded by Captain Henry Wirz.
Andersonville opened in February 1864. The prison compound
covered 40 acres and was designed for 10,000 men. By summer
of 1864, there were over 25,000 POWs at Andersonville and
over 1000 deaths a month. The South had very little food
and no medical supplies. However, the main cause of death
at
Andersonville was the lack of sanitation and pure water.
A small stream ran through the camp. It was polluted, first
by the guards, and then the by the large numbers of prisoners.
Captain Wirz made no attempt to back wash the stream or
improve the water supply. The spring and summer of 1864
were very dry adding to the poor conditions in the prison.
In all, over 13,000 prisoners died and were buried at Andersonville.
Today it is a National Cemetery and the home of America's
POW Museum.
Captain Henry Wirz was tried after the Civil War. He was
convicted of the murder of 11 men, but more so, Wirz represented
the entire South and the victor's desire to extract some
type of vengeance upon a defeated foe. Wirz was hanged on
10 November 1865. The North had its revenge. The South was
soon able to borrow money, rebuild its economy, and eventually
rejoin the Union as an equal. No other Confederate officials
or military leaders were ever tried. Captain Wirz was the
Confederacy's sacrificial lamb.
History's currents or current history? You decide!
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