- Date:
- November 10, 1865
- Original Format:
- Photographic Print
- Item#:
- MES15524
- Photographer:
- Alexander Gardner
Execution of Captain Henry Wirz
This photograph shows Major Russell reading the death warrant. He told Henry Wirz he "deplored this duty." Wirz replied that: "I know what orders are, Major- and I am being hung for obeying them." He was the warden of the Andersonville prison camp and was sentenced to hang "for impairing the health and destroying the lives of prisoners." Wirz was the only Confederate officer executed as a war criminal.