The Andersonville Trial

THE STORY: As told by Chapman from the NY Daily News: Wirz, a Swiss immigrant and a doctor, had enlisted in the rebel army, had been severely wounded and, a semi-invalid, had been put in command of this military prison. It was merely a stockade with no shelter from winter or summer, and its food consisted of rough corn bread. In summer, Wirz testified at his trial, a hundred men died there each day...Torn by awful memories and coldly pursued by his prosecutor he [Wirz] maintains that he ran Andersonville as a soldier acting under superior orders. The crux of this stirring play raises the question of when the responsibility of the individual to his conscience transcends any power or authority.Saul Levitt is the author of 'The Andersonville Trial', published 1961 under ISBN 9780822200420 and ISBN 0822200422.