Henry Wirz, the commandant of the Andersonville prison camp during the Civil War, was hanged on Nov. 10, 1865, after a trial that was “very much a farce,” Larry Walston, a Civil War re-enactor, said Saturday afternoon.

Waltson and other re-enactors, and others from the area, went to Fuller Cemetery near Linton at 2 p.m. on Saturday to hold a memorial ceremony for Wirz and his wife, Elizabeth Wirz, who was born in Trigg County and is buried at Fuller Cemetery.

Wirz was “a kind, compassionate, wonderful man,” said Linda Fritz, a re-enactor who played Elizabeth Wirz at the salute/memorial.

Larry P’Pool, who is with the Jefferson Davis Birthplace re-enactment group, estimated that there were well over 100 people present, including the re-enactors.

“We do these all the time, we’ve done about five this year,” said P’Pool, who added that they also do re-enactments in Cadiz and Eddyville.

ull name was Heinrich Hartmann Wirz, was born in 1823 in Zurich, Switzerland. He was in charge of Camp Sumter, a Confederate prisoner of war camp near Andersonville, Ga., from April 1864 until the end of the war.

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