Andersonville Trial Review

It all began when a company of Union soldiers were captured by the Confederates during the American Civil War, they were transported to the Andersonville internment camp for POWs in the South. However, because the disagreement between commanding officers, there has been no arrangement made for prisoners to be exchanged or set to freedom. As a result, the prison lacked in the areas of trained and adequately equipped prison guards; a gross lack of food, tools and medical supplies; severe overcrowding; poor sanitary conditions; and a lack of potable water. At its most overcrowded, in August 1864, the camp held approximately thirty-two thousand Union prisoners and the monthly mortality rate from disease and malnutrition reached three thousand. Around forty-five thousand prisoners were held in the camp's fourteen-month existence, thirteen thousand had died.

Henry Wirz, a private in the 4th Louisiana Infantry. He served on detached duty as a prison guard in Alabama before being transferred to help command at Andersonville. I believe that he should be found guilty on the charges of impairing the lives of the Union POW's, and committing violent acts of assaults upon Union soldiers. In the court case Henry was charged with; Specification #1: Henry Wirz on the eight day of July, 1864, while acting as commander did make an assault upon a prisoner (unknown name) inflicting upon the body a mortal wound with a pistol - the said soldier died the ninth day ofJuly, 1864. There were many other charges upon Wartz of assaulting men, then few days later they would die. The defendants were arguing that Henry had great difficulty in lifting both of his arms, but later in the court case one of the crossexaminers lifted his arm showing the indeed Henry could lift his arms, soon later he even admitted he was able to lift is arms. Showing he could indeed strike a man maybe not with great force but he could do it.

There are some records that show that every now and then Henry would leave the prison to go back to his house a couple miles away. Now if he left to go home why couldn't he go another Fort asking for help and telling them about the conditions at Andersonville? Instead he wrote a letter which was not responded to, but he knew that there was a chance that it might not get there or that the letter may have no affect. So he is to blame for all the deaths, for the ones he intentionally killed himself and the other ones that dies from the sever conditions that they had to go through that Henry did nothing about.

The issue of morally right for sure had to have been brought up. Because of his morals that can change the condition of the whole case. If he believed that everyone was like him and they all have should been treated like him, but there was nothing Henry could to and he tried everything he could possibly do but there was no hope then that would be different. But he did not look at it that way he looked at it as those prisoners were union soldiers, who were fighting against him and if on the battle field they would be trying to kill him. So he looked at them as nothing but basically as "rats" not human because they did not compare with him. I think he knew that it was morally right not to kill them and try to do everything in his power to help them, but he didn't care. He wanted to take his anger out on them and treat them as if they were not humans. By making them live in those conditions then if a soldier looked at him wrong he would beat them down and either beat them to death or close to it, but then few days later they would probably die from infections in their wounds.

Another example when the use of moral rights was on July 28, 2005, in a courtroom in Ft. Stewart, Georgia. One Army NCO who decided that he had no choice but to make a hard decision, NOT to return to war is being put on trial for caring about humanity. This soldier fulfilled his commitment, he kept his promise to his enlisted contract, and when ordered to deploy to Iraq at the start of the war, he went, not because he wanted to kill the Iraqis and destroy leaders of terrorism, but he went because he wanted the soldiers he served with to come home safely.

He returned knowing that war is wrong. He saw war destroy civilians, innocent men, women and children. He saw war destroy homes, relationships and a country. He saw this not only in the country that was invaded, but he saw this happening to the invading country as well , and he knew that the only way to save those soldiers was for people to no longer participate in war. Sgt. Kevin Benderman is a Conscientious Objector to war, and the Army is mad.