1. Captain Henry Wirz, the Andersonville Villain?
Ssh8h6: the student will analyze the impact of the civil war and reconstruction on Georgia
b. state the importance of key events of the civil war: Andersonville

2. UNION RAN PRISON CAMPS

3. Alton Prison

4. Elmira Prison

5. Rock Island Prison

6. CONFEDERATE RAN PRISON
CAMPS

7. Cahaba Prison

8. Castle Thunder

9. Andersonville

10. Andersonville Raiders

12. Critical Thinking
Can one person, Capt. Henry Wirz, be held responsible for such a great tragedy such as Andersonville?

13. The Prosecution’s Argument
Captain Henry Wirz spent most of the Civil War working in the Confederate prison system, making him one of the most experienced people in that field.
NPS/Andersonville National Historic Site

14. Specific Charges a/k/a Specifications
First 10 of 11 charges were for murder - direct involvement of Henry Wirz having caused with forethought the death of a union prisoner – 10 separate counts!!!
Conspiracy to kill or injure prisoners in violation of the laws of war, which stipulated the prisoners could not be denied access to available food, water, clothing or medical supplies.

15. COMMAND RESPONSIBILITY
Customary Law Doctrine
Commander criminally liable for war crimes committed by subordinates
Commander need not personally participate

16. Command Responsibility
Historical Reference Points
Ordinance at Orleans -- Charles VII (1439)
Trial of Peter von Hagenbach (1474)
King Adolphus of Sweden (Laws of War, 1621)
Lieber Code (1863)
Trial of Captain Wirz (US Civil War, 1865)

17. Lieber Code General Orders No. 100 by President Lincoln, 24 April 1863
 Art. 71.
Whoever intentionally inflicts additional wounds on an enemy already wholly disabled,
or kills such an enemy, or who orders or encourages soldiers to do so, shall suffer death,
if duly convicted, whether he belongs to the Army of the United States, or is an enemy
captured after having committed his misdeed.
   Art. 76.
Prisoners of war shall be fed upon plain and wholesome food, whenever practicable,
and treated with humanity.
Art. 79.
Every captured wounded enemy shall be medically treated, according to the ability of
the medical staff.

18. “The cemetery. Mode of carrying and burying the dead,”
an illustration of Andersonville by Union prisoner Thomas O’Dea, 1864 (National Park Service) Courthttp://blog.encyclopediavirginia.org/2012/02/this-day-fortuitous-death-edition/

20. Union “Survivors”

21. Group Project Please get into groups of two
It is after the trial and hanging of Wirz.
The press interviews each group. One member is the reporter asking the questions about the trial and the horrors experienced while the other is the POW. Trade off and get both view points and be ready to discuss. Write at least three points for or against Wirz.
Extra credit for considering the points of view of both union and southern press.

22. Defense Argument