Henry Wirz (1823–1865) was the only Confederate executed for what modern society would call a war crime. The Swiss-born Wirz had lost the use of his arm by 1862 and thereafter left the combat arena for posts in southern prisoner-of-war facilities in Richmond, Virginia; Alabama; and finally, in March 1864, Andersonville, Georgia. As the war had become more bitter, attitudes toward prisoners hardened, and by 1864 there was no longer a system of parole and exchange. The result was tremendous overcrowding; Andersonville became a hell-hole. With completely inadequate facilities in everything from food and housing to drainage and sanitation, thousands of Union POWs died. Wirz was simply overwhelmed—and possibly incompetent. In the vindictive atmosphere at the end of the war, however, he was charged with deliberate murder and sentenced to death after a trial that was notably unfair and biased. He was hanged at Washington’s Old Capitol Prison on November 10, 1865.
