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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Henry Wirz And The Tragedy Of Andersonville: A Question Of Responsibility, Albert Winkler
Henry Wirz And The Tragedy Of Andersonville: A Question Of Responsibility, Albert Winkler
Faculty Publications
Henry Wirz was the most controversial Swiss American. Born in Zurich, Wirz migrated to the United States and joined the Confederacy at the outbreak of the Civil War. He was assigned to oversee the military prison at Andersonville, Georgia, which had a very high death rate. Following the war, Wirz was arrested and tried for war crimes. The trial was a travesty of justice. Many of his supposed crimes were milder punishments than the Union inflicted on its own soldiers. The court allowed hearsay evidence, Wirz was no allowed to call key witnesses for his defense, and many leaders of …
William Vandever: Presbyterian, Congressman, General, Douglas Firth Anderson
William Vandever: Presbyterian, Congressman, General, Douglas Firth Anderson
Faculty Publications
What happens to Dutch ethnic identity after several generations in America? William Vandever (1817-1893) illustrates at least one path of acculturation. He was a Congressman twice--first from Iowa, later from California. During the Civil War, he raised a Union regiment from Iowa and was a general by the time the war ended. In the 1870s he was a U.S. Indian Inspector. His Dutchness, though, persisted through his self-identification as a devout Presbyterian--in the greater Reformed tradition of his Dutch ancestors of the 17th century.
Henry Wirz And Andersonville: The Career Of The Most Controversial Swiss American, Albert Winkler
Henry Wirz And Andersonville: The Career Of The Most Controversial Swiss American, Albert Winkler
Faculty Publications
Henry Wirz is the most controversial Swiss American. He was assigned to oversee the Andersonville Prison during the Civil War, and he was blamed for the high death rate in that prison even though he had no means of getting additional food and supplies to the captives. He was tried for war crimes after the Civil War. He was not allowed an adequate defense at his trial, and he was found guilty in a travesty of justice. He refused an offer of clemency if he would implicate Jefferson Davis and other high Confederate officials in a plot to kill Union …