When the War Between the States (Civil War) ended in 1865, Capt. Wirz was paroled. However, shortly thereafter, he was arrested and carried to Washington , D.C. where he was placed in the Old Capitol Prison. His trial before a military tribunal lasted several months, and included the perjured testimony of a Yankee soldier, Felix Oeser, who was a deserter from the 7th NY. Regiment, who falsely claimed to be Felix de la Baume, a great nephew of Marquis Lafayette of American Revolutionary war fame. For his false testimony against Capt. Wirz, he was given a position with the U.S. Dept. of the Interior. It was later learned that this key witness whose perjured testimony contributed considerably to the conviction had never been at Andersonville . The vast Majority of defense witnesses for Capt. Wirz were not permitted to testify. Many historians call his trial a farce and travesty of justice. After the war in 1908, James Madison Page, a Michigan cavalryman, who had been a POW at Andersonville , wrote a book completely exonerating Wirz.
More @ SHNV
No comments:
Post a Comment