2-365-490 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The hanging of Henry Wirz, Washington DC, USA, 1865 (1955). Adjusting the rope. The Catholic priest is asking Wirz if he wishes to make a confession and Wirz, protesting his innocence refuses. The soldiers, forming a square at the base of the gallows, are chanting Wirz, remember Andersonville... while the crowd hoots and jeers. Wirz (1823-1865) was commander of the Confederate prisoner of war camp known as Andersonville at Fort Sumter, South Carolina during the American Civil War. Conditions at the huge camp were appalling, and of the 45,000 Union prisoners held there during the 14 months it was in operation, 13,000 died. Wirz was arrested and tried for murder and conspiracy to impair the lives of prisoners of war. He was the only man tried, convicted and executed for war crimes during the Civil War. The case was controversial as it has been argued that many of the deaths arose due to the lack of food supplies in the South at the time, something that was outside of Wirz's control. A print from Mathew Brady Historian with a Camera by James D Horan, Bonanza Books, New York, 1955.