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Henry Wirz hanged for Andersonville war crimes

When
1865
Where
Old Capitol Prison; United States Court of Claims; Military Commission
Episodes
4

Captain Henry Wirz, commandant of Andersonville Prison, was tried by a military tribunal in Washington, D.C. for war crimes. The tribunal convicted him of conspiracy and personal cruelty, sentencing him to death. Wirz was hanged on November 10, 1865, becoming the only Confederate official executed for war crimes following the Civil War.

Episodes

  1. May 10, 1865 · Old Capitol PrisonArrest and Transfer to Washington

    Wirz was arrested following the Confederate defeat and transferred to Washington, D.C., to face trial for war crimes.

  2. August 23 – October 18, 1865 · United States Court of ClaimsMilitary Tribunal Proceedings

    A military tribunal tried Wirz for war crimes in Washington, D.C., between August and October 1865.

  3. November 1865 · Military CommissionConviction and Sentencing

    The Military Commission found Wirz guilty of conspiracy and ten specifications of cruelty, sentencing him to death.

  4. November 10, 1865 · Old Capitol PrisonExecution of Henry Wirz

    Wirz was hanged in Washington, D.C., becoming the only Confederate official executed for war crimes.

Background and detail

Background. Henry Wirz, a Confederate officer and doctor, commanded Andersonville Prison (Camp Sumter) in Georgia from April 1864. Following the Confederate defeat, he was arrested and transferred to Washington, D.C., where he was held in the Old Capitol Prison. The federal government decided to put him on trial for conspiring to impair the lives of Union prisoners of war.

Trial. The military tribunal took place between August 23 and October 18, 1865, in the United States Court of Claims. Wirz was accused of criminal conspiracy and thirteen acts of personal cruelty, including murders and torture. In early November 1865, the commission found him guilty of conspiracy and ten specifications of cruelty, sentencing him to death.

People involved

  • Henry Wirz · Confederate commandant of Andersonville Prison
  • Champ Ferguson · Guerrilla executed for war crimes after the war (contextual reference only; not a participant in the Wirz trial or hanging)

Sources

  1. Henry Wirz Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-05
  2. Andersonville Prison Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-25

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.