Title

The hanging of Henry Wirz, Washington DC, USA, 1865 (1955). Artist: Unknown

Caption

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.
The Print Collector collection

Date

1955

Credit line

Photo12/Heritage Images/The Print Collector

Reference

HRM19C54_297

Model release

No

License type

Rights managed

Available size

50,0Mb (2,9Mb) / 17,1in x 11,3in / 5139 x 3400 (300dpi)

Keywords

city people Henry Wirz Wirz male man men religious country religion guy crime watching scaffold scaffolding Washington hanging death Christianity war Washington DC District of Columbia location Catholic Catholicism century Roman Catholic justice prisoner soldiers soldier priest concept punishment controversy B&W MONOCHROME revenge controversial gallows United States of America United States pow execution 19th century black & white black and white B W Confederate Roman Catholicism American Civil War nineteenth century prisoner of war prisoners of war war crime war criminal American America USA The Print Collector Andersonville prisoner of war camp TGN POW camp Unknown Henry Alexander James D Horan Horan James D Mathew Brady Brady Mathew B Alexander Gardner;Gardner James D Horan Mathew Brady