tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post5554744256027216437..comments2024-03-27T14:30:10.785-04:00Comments on JOHN BANKS' <br> CIVIL WAR BLOG: Hanging of Henry Wirz: 'A lovelier day never dawned'John Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04384617564864766357noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-53720516663541506192021-11-11T22:07:39.508-05:002021-11-11T22:07:39.508-05:00I had a number of relatives who were POW's at ...I had a number of relatives who were POW's at Andersonville. They were Southern Unionists who were captured by some of Forrests people at Union City, Teneessee, whilst serving in the 7th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment (USA). Some didn't survive. I understand that the Union POW camps were pretty bad as well, though the North had the resources and infrastructure to better care for their prisoners. I've read that the individual administering the Union camps was neglectful of the Confederate POW's welfare. I had one Confederate relative who was captured and sent to Camp Chase, Ohio. In a couple of months he was fighting for the North. Years later, at his death, his widow got a pension. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07520064985375701144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-62984447271289901522021-07-23T12:35:57.753-04:002021-07-23T12:35:57.753-04:00He's lucky his death was quick, unlike those w...He's lucky his death was quick, unlike those who suffered and died at Andersonville. My relative Amos Andrews McNish, was a survivor.<br /><br />TYPEWRITTEN COPY OF A LETTER FROM A.A. McNISH of BURTON, OHIO, RT. NO.3, GEAUGA,<br />CO. OHIO TO MRS. JAMES JOSEPHI written on February 8, 1909 on the death of her<br />father, Morris Jackson Holly. Mrs. James Josephi, 1459 Wyamdotte Ave., Lakewood,<br />OH.<br />Burton, OH. Feb. 8, 1909<br />Mrs. Hattie Josephi<br />My Dear Friend,<br />Replying to your welcome letter of Jan. 31 would say, we noticed in the Plain<br />Dealer the announcement of your Father's death and date of the funeral, and I made<br />arrangements to go, but my throat was so bad and the day was so cold 1n the mornlng<br />that I dare not venture out.<br />His death did come rather sudden but that is by far the best way to go.<br />Your father was a grand and good friend of mine in the days of our Prison Life<br />in Andersonville and we came home to Cleveland together and I went with him to his<br />home and his poor old mother (who had mourned him as dead) recognized him as we<br />turned in and met him part way to the road and gave him a Royal greeting, such as a<br />mother only can give. Hardened as I was, with 3 and 1/2 years of army experience,<br />with thirteen months of Prison life, I modestly turned my back lest they would see<br />the tears rolling down my cheek and I realized then how much before that, come what<br />may, a mother's love endureth forever. You know his home life far better, than I<br />do, but as a comrade he was a grand and noble specimen, mild, courteous and forgiving. His happiest moments were when he was contributing to the comfort and<br />pleasure of his comrades.<br />You would not think such a man, could be a good soldier. I once heard President Garfield (James A. Garfield, assassinated in 1881 and buried in Lakevi.ew<br />Cemetery, Cleveland) say, "I don't want a bruiser or a bummer for a good soldier,<br />but the more honor, refinement and culture you get into a man, the better soldier<br />you will have."<br />You do not know it, but I will tell you now that your father, mild and meek as<br />he appeared to be, knew more of the horrors of war than any man now living in all<br />Europe, unless he actively participated in the war of the rebellion. He understood<br />all the ups and downs of camp-life. The long weary march, the lonely nights on<br />picket, and the fury of battle. <br />He understood the touch of the elbow when the roar of the artillery was so loud<br />that the sound of the bugle could not be heard.<br />He knew of deathly and gapping wounds of the cold and clammy clasp of the dying<br />comrades hand, the last farewell the hurried made grave and the missing man at roll<br />call.<br />But my dear friend, he had memories which were sadder far than these. When he<br />remembered his starving comrades in the Prison-pen, their haggard faces and almost<br />idiotic stare, the live vermin sapping almost the last drops of their life's blood.<br />The skeleton forms of our almost naked dead, and the unearthly groans of our dying,<br />with no wife, mother or sisters hand to alleviate their pain or wife. The death<br />damp from their brow.<br />--MY-dear friend Hattie, although he did not like to speak about these memories,<br />yet they did form an aggregate which could not be expressed by language, a mountain<br />of woe which none but the Infinite mind can comprehend.<br />Now Hattie, as You"remember your Father, in years to come, we trust you may realize that as a beardless boy he gave the most beautiful of his young life<br />fighting the battles of our county, and so far as I know; his life has been good and commendable,and worthy of imitation. Peace to his ashes. <br />Mrs. McNish joins in sending kind regards to yourself and, family, to your sister Frankie and last but not least to your dear mother, in her sad grief and loneliness.ยท' , ,.'. . ' '.. ;., ,'."<br />Claude is gaining sslowly, and the rest of our people are in their usual health<br />,although my wife is not very strong.<br />Very truly yours,<br />A.A. McNishTruleehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319613626350178203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-80083745141376248182021-06-16T10:35:40.322-04:002021-06-16T10:35:40.322-04:00The north had similar prison camps. I know of one ...The north had similar prison camps. I know of one being in Chicago. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11260460625753411440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-2689480264860744462021-05-22T03:23:20.891-04:002021-05-22T03:23:20.891-04:00The humane treatment of prisoners written into the...The humane treatment of prisoners written into the Geneva Convention came directly out of the horrors of Andersonville. Never again... Until the "quaint rules" pertaining to enemy combatants were rewritten by John Woo, Bush "dubya" et al.... Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-4862693832018829212021-05-06T15:10:01.220-04:002021-05-06T15:10:01.220-04:00If this country had been a united nation. None of ...If this country had been a united nation. None of this would have happened. Just like in WWII there is always consequences for war crimes of the losing army.Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17112449934216144386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-84186991317021789112021-04-25T14:21:25.746-04:002021-04-25T14:21:25.746-04:00Camp Douglas in Chicago.Camp Douglas in Chicago.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13435448664665731800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-74430350576236186772021-04-15T12:01:24.885-04:002021-04-15T12:01:24.885-04:00My great, great grandfather served in the 103rd Pe...My great, great grandfather served in the 103rd Pennsylvania and was captured and sent to Andersonville in the spring of 1864. He was a lucky survivor of that hell hole. CITYshapers Worldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09949073700885517509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-48435524313326014062021-03-25T05:04:15.743-04:002021-03-25T05:04:15.743-04:00Wirtz saw prisoners dying of hunger and disease ev...Wirtz saw prisoners dying of hunger and disease every day, and he cares nothing, he is guilty of omission and of treating a human being worse than an animal. Instead of excusing himself by blaming his superiors, he could have used every means in his power to shelter them and allow them to have their own garden and poultry or animals. He was well condemned and he is no martyr, now he is rendering accounts to God like all criminals in the world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-35939913167963993942021-01-10T23:05:51.222-05:002021-01-10T23:05:51.222-05:00My great-uncle, Peter Kiene, who had lied about hi...My great-uncle, Peter Kiene, who had lied about his age to sign up, was interned there at the age of fourteen. Miraculously, he survived to go home to Dubuque, where he grew up to be a respected citizen.DizzyofMayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17786698812772938880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-50587728578319892112019-03-10T21:40:22.781-04:002019-03-10T21:40:22.781-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Tyfatchildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02984946604632037271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-11806069566094432212019-03-10T21:37:47.486-04:002019-03-10T21:37:47.486-04:00To the victor go the spoils to the defeated go the...To the victor go the spoils to the defeated go the atrocities. Combatants on either side of a conflict or always guilty of atrocities. I think there was much abuse at the prisoner of war camp in Chicago which has mostly gone undocumented. War itself is an obscenity for which no hanging can bring back the dead.Tyfatchildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02984946604632037271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-24951308453027968512019-03-10T21:34:16.074-04:002019-03-10T21:34:16.074-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Tyfatchildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02984946604632037271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-83082828792783212572018-11-22T12:41:17.845-05:002018-11-22T12:41:17.845-05:00My great, great uncle who was in the 16th Conn was...My great, great uncle who was in the 16th Conn was wounded and captured in April 1864. They sent him to Andersonville. He died 4 months later from wounds and starvation and is buried there. In 1907 his brother who was also in the 16th attended the dedication of the Conn POW war memorial at Andersonville. Many more men of the 16th died from the terrible conditions at Andersonville than from battle.Ggushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12538856165172558339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-74090094519278618252016-11-16T09:18:27.605-05:002016-11-16T09:18:27.605-05:00BS article-He did his best and how about the sadis...BS article-He did his best and how about the sadistic Northern POW camps where there was rampant mistreatment and deaths of Confederates. Typical one sided article.Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08184661176216958922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31912334.post-54517065688701672572014-02-16T14:51:17.464-05:002014-02-16T14:51:17.464-05:00The scaffold on which Wirz was hanged stood just a...The scaffold on which Wirz was hanged stood just about in the center of what is now the piazza in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com