Wirz Annual Memorial Service Andersonville Georgia
Compatriots,
The Americus Georgia SCV camp has scheduled the annual memorial service for Andersonville POW camp commander Henry Wirz for Sunday Nov.4, 2012 at the monument in Andersonville. The Lee county band "A Joyful Noise" will play Southern Gospel and period Confederate music as a tribute to Capt. Wirz from 2-3PM and the formal memorial service will be held at 3PM. The speaker will be Mrs. Cassy Gray who is the publisher of the monthly e-newsletter "The Stainless Banner". The Albany SCV camp is assisting the Americus camp with promotion of the event. You are invited and encouraged to attend. This event has been held annually since 1978.
The Albany Herald newspaper is publishing a pre-event article. You may read the quote below that I furnished for the article.
The Americus Georgia SCV camp has scheduled the annual memorial service for Andersonville POW camp commander Henry Wirz for Sunday Nov.4, 2012 at the monument in Andersonville. The Lee county band "A Joyful Noise" will play Southern Gospel and period Confederate music as a tribute to Capt. Wirz from 2-3PM and the formal memorial service will be held at 3PM. The speaker will be Mrs. Cassy Gray who is the publisher of the monthly e-newsletter "The Stainless Banner". The Albany SCV camp is assisting the Americus camp with promotion of the event. You are invited and encouraged to attend. This event has been held annually since 1978.
The Albany Herald newspaper is publishing a pre-event article. You may read the quote below that I furnished for the article.
James W. King
Commander SCV Camp 141
Albany Georgia
Commander SCV Camp 141
Albany Georgia
To: James Gaston--Chairman Wirz Memorial Service Committee-Americus Georgia SCV Camp
James,
I met with journalist Jim West at the Albany Herald newspaper office this morning. I summarized the facts concerning Andersonville and Capt. Wirz and loaned him the book you sent to me to use for info. writing the article. The pre-event article is scheduled to be published in the Albany Herald prior to the memorial service in Andersonville on Sunday Nov.4, 2012.
He has your phone # and also the # for Capt. Wirz's great nephew Col. Wirz in Switzerland as contacts for a phone interview for information or quotes to use in the article. He may contact one or both of you.
I am sending the quote posted below to Jim and you may also e-mail him a quote.
I met with journalist Jim West at the Albany Herald newspaper office this morning. I summarized the facts concerning Andersonville and Capt. Wirz and loaned him the book you sent to me to use for info. writing the article. The pre-event article is scheduled to be published in the Albany Herald prior to the memorial service in Andersonville on Sunday Nov.4, 2012.
He has your phone # and also the # for Capt. Wirz's great nephew Col. Wirz in Switzerland as contacts for a phone interview for information or quotes to use in the article. He may contact one or both of you.
I am sending the quote posted below to Jim and you may also e-mail him a quote.
Quote by James W. King-Commander of Camp 141 Sons of Confederate Albany Georgia.
"The
trial of Andersonville POW Camp Commander Capt. Henry Wirz was a
travesty of American justice and a complete farce in which the outcome
of being found guilty was predetermined. This trial remains a dark
chapter in the American justice system and especially highlights
immoral and unethical proceedings and conduct by military courts of
this time period. It places the names of the members of the military
court in the "Infamous" category and their names are forever stained in
the perspective of all Americans who truly understand and care about
this gross miscarriage of justice and the willful execution of an
innocent man. The key witnesses for the prosecution committed perjury
and the star witness was a deserter from a New York regiment who had
never been at Andersonville. He presented himself as a grandnephew of
Napoleon under the assumed name of Felix de la Baume and blatantly lied
vividly describing atrocities committed by Wirz but the victims were
always "name unknown". The vast majority of witnesses for the defense
were barred from testifying. These witnesses included former Union
prisoners who had been at Andersonville and included James Madison
Page, a Michigan cavalryman, who later wrote a book completely
exonerating Wirz and placing the blame for Andersonville hardships and
death squarely upon the Lincoln Administration and especially Sec. of
War Stanton and Gen. Grant. Capt. Wirz was a scapegoat for misinformed
Northerners who demanded revenge for what they wrongly believed were
intentional acts of starvation and murder of Union POW's. The death
rate of POW's at Andersonville was approximately 25% whereas the death
rate of Confederate POW's at Elmira New York was about 44% and
intentional. The Elmira commander bragged that he had killed more
Confederates than any soldier on the front lines. Camp Douglas at
Chicago was another "Death Camp" in which Confederate POW's were
deliberately starved, frozen, tortured, and murdered as accurately
portrayed by the recent History Channel presentation "80 Acres Of
Hell". The Union commander's of these camps were never tried for war
crimes. It is my opinion that they should be tried posthumously and
their dastardly deeds made known to Americans. Furthermore the U.S.
Senate and U.S. House of Representatives passed Joint Resolution SR97
stating the intent to deliberately cause the death of Confederate POW's
by starvation, exposure to inclement weather, and disease. After the
execution of Capt. Wirz the barbarian Yankees cut up his body parts and
exhibited them at various places in the North and charged a viewing
fee. It took Wirz's attorney four years to get enough body parts
returned so that a Christian burial could be conducted for this
unfortunate Southern martyr who was offered his life if he would
implicate Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the plot to
assassinate Union President Abraham Lincoln. In a final act of honor
Wirz refused to lie and implicate an innocent man. Had Wirz been a
dishonorable man he could have saved his life and avoided the gallows".
James W. King
Commander SCV Camp 141
Lt. Col. Thomas M. Nelson
Albany Georgia
Commander SCV Camp 141
Lt. Col. Thomas M. Nelson
Albany Georgia
