Heimrich L. Wirz, great-great-nephew of Capt. Henry Wirz, Commandant of the Andersonville, Ga. Confederate Prison. Visited Salisbury to see the area where the Salisbury Confederate Prison. Photo by jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.
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The present-day Heinrich Wirz has found “so many descriptions” about his ancestor’s trial suggesting it was a kangaroo court, he says. Captain Wirz proved to be a scapegoat of sorts, especially with the lingering Northern outrage over the assassination of President Lincoln, Heinrich Wirz adds.
He also cites evidence that the night before he was hanged, Captain Wirz was offered a pardon if he would implicate Confederate President Jefferson Davis and testify that he ordered Wirz to mistreat prisoners.
Wirz refused and was hanged in sight of the U.S. Capitol building. He is buried in Washington’s Mount Olivet Cemetery, a place Heinrich Wirz has visited many times, often for memorial services conducted by organizations such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Wirz is a retired colonel in the Swiss Army, a writer in defense and military affairs and a self-described “independent parliamentary journalist.” He started out compiling information on Capt. Henry Wirz for a family history and a brochure on federal military history.
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