Description:

HENRY WIRZ
(1823 – 1865) Swiss-American Confederate Army captain and war criminal. Wirz served as the commandant of the notorious Andersonville prisoner-of-war camp where nearly 13,000 Union Army prisoners died as a result of inhumane conditions. After the war, Wirz was tried and executed for conspiracy and murder relating to his command of the camp; this made him the highest-ranking soldier and only officer of the Confederate Army to be sentenced to death for crimes during their service. ONE OF THE RAREST AMERICAN AUTOGRAPHS - ON A WAR-DATE DOCUMENT An incredibly rare war-date partly-printed D.S., 1p. 8vo., a Confederate States Form No. 12 purchase order made out and signed 'Henry Wirz' at top, [n.p., ca. Dec. 31, 1861], in which Wirz further writes that he has made an $8.00 purchase of 'one pair of Blankets furnished to U.S. Prisoners of war'. A quartermaster approves the purchase at bottom. One abraded hole along a fold at bottom, else near fine. With a May 11, 2000 letter of authenticity Dan Weinberg, autograph and book expert, owner of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago. In the aftermath of Bull Run in July 1861, Wirz was assigned to guard duty at Howard's Factory Prison. He immediately began to organize prisoners, and developed a reputation for efficiency and callousness. He was, as one prisoner wrote in 1862, 'the essence of authority at the prison… [he] thought himself omnipresent and omniscient.' By the fall of 1861, Wirz attracted the attention of General John Winder, who at that time was in charge of the Richmond prison system. Winder placed Wirz on detached duty as a part of his prison management team. In November 1861 the Richmond newspapers reported that Sergeant Henry Wirz was one of seven men on the city's Prison Board, charged with ensuring the security of all military prisons in Richmond.

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May 4, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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$100 $499 $20
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$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
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$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
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