In 1865, the only Confederate officer executed for war crimes was hanged in Washington
The haunting legacy of the American Civil War culminated in the 1865 execution of Henry Wirz, the only Confederate official held legally responsible for the atrocities committed during the conflict.
As the commandant of the notorious Andersonville prison camp, Henry Wirz presided over a facility where nearly 13,000 Union soldiers died from disease and starvation. Following the war's conclusion, he was tried by a military commission in Washington D.C. and found guilty of conspiracy and cruelty, leading to his hanging in November 1865.
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