Beschreibung:

Gardner's classic 6.5 x 8.25 in. image printed by Huntington and Taylor on their War for the Union. Photographic History mount. This image shows he noose being adjusted around Wirtz's neck. This copy matted and framed in a deep wood frame approx. 14 x 16 in. On back of frame is a modern photocopy of the story that was published in Harper's Weekly on Nov. 25, 1865. The text on Gardner's mount notes that The single life of Captain Wirtz [sic] (the notorious and brutal keeper of that awful prison pen at Andersonville) could never atone for his many crimes against humanity. The Harper's article is even more condemnatory: Certainly it is a rare thing for men and women to rend the air with cheers as was the case when Wirz was hung. In ordinary cases this exultation would have seemed against nature; but in a case like this the processes of nature are reversed, and the shock usually incident to the spectacle of a violent death is overpowered by the popular rejoicing on account of the extinction of a monster of cruelty. Henry Wirz maintained until his death that he had no direct hand in the brutality committed by the guards at the prison, and shortages of food, shelter and clothing were the fault of the Confederate government. Wirz and Champ Ferguson (see Cowan's American History Auction, June 24, 2009) were the only two Confederates convicted and executed for war crimes during the Civil War. Condition: Minor toning of mount (what is visible inside the mat). Otherwise a fine copy of this image.