Wirz descendent part of Andersonville memorial service

ANDERSONVILLE — Retired Swiss Army Col. Heinrich Wirz, the great-nephew of Confederate Capt. Henry Wirz, will be in Andersonville Sunday for the sesquicentennial commemoration of Henry Wirz’s hanging for war crimes during the American Civil War.

Heinrich Wirz and other dignitaries will be part of a pre-memorial meet-and-greet at Americus’ South Georgia Technical College starting at 11:30 a.m. That meeting, at South Georgia Tech’s Pope Conference Center, will feature an appearance by Ronald and Donald Kennedy of Louisiana, authors of the book “The South Was Right.” Also scheduled to attend is Judy Womack, president of the Georgia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

The memorial service for Henry Wirz will begin at 2 p.m. at the notorious Andersonville prisoner of war camp, where more than 13,000 men, most of them Union prisoners, died from disease, starvation, overcrowding and inhumane conditions.

“I remember one of the first two or three years we had this memorial service, there were 15 to 20 of us who got together to honor Capt. Wirz,” James Gaston, chairman of the Wirz Memorial Service Committee, said. “I believe it was the Columbus newspaper that wrote a story calling us ‘a little band of die-hards.’ Well, that band has grown over the years, and we expect as many as 150 to 200 for the sesquicentennial commemoration of Capt. Wirz’s hanging.

“We’re very excited about the ceremony this year. Of course, Col. Heinrich Wirz will be coming from Switzerland, but we’ve gotten calls from folks coming from 850 miles away in Missouri and lots of people coming from North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida. I think the significance of the anniversary (is reason for renewed interest in the service), but as long as people continue to hear Andersonville — those partisan to the Confederacy and anti-partisan — it will remain significant.”

The Leesburg-based band A Joyful Noise, which has built a loyal following by playing at Sons of Confederate Veterans-sponsored events, will kick of Sunday’s Wirz ceremony at 2 p.m. Ronald Kennedy will be the keynote speaker at the ceremony, and Heinrich Wirz is expected to offer remarks as well. The solemn ceremony will include the laying of wreaths at the Andersonville monument dedicated to Wirz and a 21-gun salute.

Cost for a pre-memorial luncheon at South Georgia Tech is $20, and preregistration and payment are required. The ceremony at Andersonville is free and open to the public.

“As time goes by, the passion that many of us has tends to fade,” Gaston, the first lieutenant commander of Americus SCV Camp 78, said. “But for people who are involved in history, the travesty of Capt. Wirz’s hanging remains compelling. I guess as long as the barbaric practice of displaying his dismembered bones in a history museum continues, interest will remain.

“I believe recent events such as those surrounding the Confederate battle flag have sparked a general interest and maybe reignited some of the passion about Southern history. Young people were actively involved in recent flag rallies in the region, and we’ve added 10-12 new members in our SCV camp in the last little while and all of them are young. We’re excited about that. Young membership is necessary for any organization to survive.”

Capt. Henry Wirz, the commandant of Camp Sumter at Andersonville during the Civil War, was tried in Washington before a military tribunal after the war. He was convicted of the murder of 13 Union soldiers and hanged on Nov. 10,1865.