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The True Story of Andersonville Prison:A Defense of Major Henry Wirz

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The True Story of Andersonville Prison:A Defense of Major Henry Wirz THE TRUE STORY OF ANDER­ SONVILLE PRISON A DEFENSE OF MAJOR HENRY WIRZ ' By JAMES MADISON ~AGE Late 2d Lieut. Company A, Sixth Michigan Cavalry In Collaboration With M.J. HALEY With Portraits New York aDd Walhingtoo THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1908 .' "~. " " Digitized by Google JAMltS MADISON PAGIl 2d I,ieutenant Company A. Sixth l\lichilran Cavalry Digitized by Google MAJOK HUNKY Wmz "MONTlliPlIICK Digitized by Coogle Cs,071. 'I Copyright. The Neale PublishT£?; Tl?fi1l]l?ll]l] CONTENTS PART I ANDDIONVILLB: TRI PIJIONIU AND TRID. KIIPD Chapter I. My FJur SoLDIIIlNO ••••••••••• ••••• 15-14 My home and piltentl-lDY enliltment-I be­ come a commi.ary-Iergeant-We 10 after MOIby-A matter of gallantry. Chapter II. A SPlINT AND A CAP'l'UtI ••••••••••••• 115-40 Under the fint fire-Snicker'. Gap-The battle of Falling Watere-We attack Hill'. corpe-A good run-Taken prilOner. Chapter III. A PIJIOND AT BILLI laLl ••••••••••••• 41-511 Talk of Immediate nchaDp-Elevea COID­ rad_My illnesa-One red apple-ClMarket Itreet"-Billy Bowles'. Chrilltmu bill of fare. Chapter IV. FROM BILLI IILI TO ANDDIONVILLI •••• 55-68 The attitude of our jaiton-We reach Ander­ IODville-The camp and' the Itoc:kade-The aite of the famou. prilOD-''The bitting women." Chapter. V. DAILY Llpi AT ANDDIONVILLB ••••••••• 69-84 Building our' cabin-The Twenty-fifth Ala­ bama-A box from home-A cake of lOap- Winder takes command of AnderlODville-I lIleet Captain Win-Hi. willingo_ to help the prilODen. Digitized by Google Chapter VI~ THB DBAD-UNB AND THB DBATH UPOiLg~ PAU££iL~' •••• 8S-lIl5 Our cabin in danger-Captain Win's kind­ iLes.....,:Tbe uz",ilODed ££iLccine"-We buUd tunnel-"Poll Purrot" susp££P41d of biLing traitor-The duty of a sentry. PhaptiL%' VlI~ THB b££iLNTON P41ilCY bll-I££h Religious services-Captain Wirz maltes corn beer--No exchange-Despair-Secretary Stan- ton's tbggzry 05' utar. Chapter VIII. EDCtITION 01' THB KAwau •••••••••• IIG-IZS The uuiben work-Captaiu Wirz uibs th%' z'riso"%'t~ Thu ili5xecutTu of sx££ 'if th~ t"idef!~ Chapter IX. THB MASS MamNG 01' JULY TwBNTlITR 126-159 An O""E'~crowbtfb WiE""~" sym~ pathy with the prisoner_A meeting to urge exchange-The resolutions and tile committee- "LittYE' Ced anb trhe b££E"iLmer~ bo~Wirz plead. for better rations for the prisonen. b~haptili5u X. THi OF ~IP~E'lTOiL "40-14l5 A freshwater sprin&-Another tunnel-Another discovE'T-Tb" utan told~ Chapter XI. THAT TUUBLE AUGUST •••••••••••••• 147-16, Absence of Captain Wirz on a furlouTITIh-The death tiLte-Cum ~bee", health beverili5££h-Th" results of a false war policy. Chapter XII~ BILLY B££WLas GXVB8 TUMNa", BA"'TI~ MORt ,64-18" Leaving Andersonville-Two out of eleven- Millm priso££'--I b"""ute a "X,oem"h",,-Mb "OW C"the" 'Tbe str"il anb 'triput~'Wl1atr beasta men arel"-At Baltimore-Two out of elev~"Tur££ down emp'b bRan." tized Contents PART II Hlny WlI.z: THI MAN AND HII TalA!.. Chapter I. THI FACTS OP WII.Z'S LIn ..•••••..•.. liS-Ill' His parentage and education-His career a a soldier-His foreign miuion-The lat dinner with hi, family-The arreat and Journey to Washington. Chapter II. THI ACCUSATION AoAlNST WII.Z ••••••• 190-304 Special military commiuion-The specifica­ tion-The prisoner's plea. Chapter III. 'fBI TuAL ......................... IOS-116 The bIDDer wlto... Felix de la Baum_Win in the court-room-The charp of "COD­ apiracy"-The findinp of the commillion-The sentence. Chapter IV. 'fBI LAsT DAYS OP WII.Z'S LIn •••••• 117-ISS He is visited by Father BoyI_The news- paper pilip-Father Boyle's letter to Jefleraon Davia-An extract from the Core/lmldl Y d­ "./lIJ-Wirz's letter to Attorney Schad_Wirz's letter to President Jobnaon-The NIU Yo,.1 NIUI correapond~The execution. Chapter V. WII.Z'S ATI'OIlNIY'S FINAL Woo ••••••• IS4-24S Attorney Schade', letter to the American pub- lic-CIA friendle.. and forsaken man"-IOWe cannot escape history." Chapter VI. THI GUAT WAl SlCllTAlY ••••••••••• I4S-148 The Character of Stlntcm-Concluslon-ltOne people, one country, one tal-" Digitized by Google PREFACE During the past forty years I have read a num­ ber of stories of Andersonville Prison and of Major Wirz, who had subordinate charge of the prisoners there. Nearly all these histories were written by comrades who were confined there. as prisoners of war. I do not propose in this work to question the accuracy of their portrayal of the great suffering, privations, and of the mortality of prisoners of war in Andersonville, ·for these are matters of fact that anyone who was confined there can readily corroborate and can never forget. But it has been painful to me since the day I marched from that dismal prison pen, September 20, 1864, to the present time, that my comrades who suffered there and who have written their ex­ periences are to a man wild in their charges that Major Wirz was responsible and that he was the sole cause of the suffering and mortality endured at Andersonville. I have finally concluded to write something of my experiences in Southern prisons during the ·Civil War, not in a spirit of controversy, but in the interest of truth and fair play. I was a prisoner in different places in the South Digitized by Google 10 from September 21, 1863, till November 2I, 1864, seven months of which I was at Anderson­ ville. The story of Andersonville has been already too . often written for the mutual welfare of North and South, for the story as written has tended to in­ crease the friction between the two great sections of our country. This is to be deplored, since every lover of his country desires, to the extent of his power, to allay all sectional bitterness. The main purpose of the writer of this book is to reduce the friction between the two sections op­ posed to each other in the Civil War, and es­ pecially that caused by the exaggerated and often unjust reports of M.ajor Wirz's cruelty and inhu­ manity to the Union prisoners, reports through­ out the North at least, which have been repre­ sented to be gratuitous and wilful. I am writing, not for the purpose of contradict­ ing any comrade who has written before me, but to take a like liberty and to tell the story again from the standpoint of my own personal expe­ rience. Taps will soon soun4 for us all. who passed through those experiences, and I am sure that I shall feel better satisfied, as I pass down to the val­ ley of death, if I say what I can truthfully say in defense of the man who befriended me when I was in the greatest extremity, and when there was no other recourse. At the close of the war the feeling was so in- Digitized by Google II tense in the North on account of the suffering and mortality among the prisoners of war at Ander­ sonville that something had to be done to satisfy the popular demand for the punishment of those supposed to be responsible for that suffering and the loss of life among the prisoners, and Major Wirz was doomed, before he was tried, as the party responsible for these results. In my prison life of seven months at Anderson­ ville I became well acquainted with Major Wirz, or Captain Wirz, as he then ranked, and as he will hereafter be designated. The knowledge I gained of his character dur­ ing this personal acquaintance leads me to disagree with the conclusions reached by other writers as to the true character of this unfortunate man. Dur­ ing all these years it has been a matter of surprise to me that writers like Richardson, Spencer, Ur­ ban, and others failed to take into consideration the fact that Captain Wirz was but a subordinate under Gen. John H. Winder, who was the prison commander. Captain Wirz had charge only of the interior of the stockade, and in every way he was subject to the orders of his superior officer. Nearly all these writers were soldiers, and should have known that obedience to superiors was imperative, and hence if there were fault or error in orders or in their execution it was to be charged against the superior and not the su~ordin- ate. In this work I shall take the stand not only that Digitized by Google 13 Captain Wirz was unjustly held responsible for the hardship and mortality of Andersonville, but that the Federal authorities must share the blame for these things with the Confederate, since they well knew the inability of the Confederates to meet the reasonable wants of their prisoners of war, as they lacked a supply of their own needs, and since the Federal authorities failed to exercise a humane policy in the exchange of those captured in battle. The reader may expect in this account only the plain, unvarnished tale of a soldier. The writer, "with malice toward none and charity for all," denies conscious prejudice, and makes the sincere endeavor to put himself in the other fellow's place and make such a statement of the matter in hand as will satisfy all lovers of truth and justice. Digitized by Google PART I ANDERSONVILLE: THE PRISONERS AND THEIR KEEPER Digitized by Google W. J. W. KSRR. M. D. Digitized by Google CHAPTER I MY FIRST SOLDIERING I was bom in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, July 22, 1839, the youngest of the five children of Wallace and Nancy Bonney Page.
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