Two Very Lucky POWs in the War of Northern Agression
‘The best of human nature’: This Georgia woman cared for a Yankee POW at Andersonville while his friends tended to her brother at a Northern prison.
(The Civil War Picket) – Mary Rawson stepped into the witness stand at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C., near the completion of Capt. Henry Wirz’s trial on charges of murder and conspiracy.
By this point, a parade of witnesses had pilloried the stockade commander at Andersonville prison. They said he personally killed men, was cruel and withheld food. A book published after the sensational case pulled no punches, labeling him “The Demon of Andersonville.”
But the Confederate officer had his advocates: They argued Wirz did the best he could with meager supplies, showed acts of mercy and had no control over certain aspects of the notorious operation in central Georgia.
Rawson’s testimony in early October 1865 was meant to buttress the defense claim their client was a human – not a monster.
The woman from Plains – hometown of Jimmy Carter — told the military tribunal that beginning in early 1865 she would take the train 30 miles to the prison to bring food to — of all things — a Union prisoner, Peter Kiene of the 16th Iowa Volunteer Regiment. With Mary’s help, Peter was able to get letters to his family
How did that come to be? Rawson encountered Wirz at the camp depot and asked whether she could care for a sick prisoner, according to her testimony. Another source provides a description of what could have led her there.
A New YorkTimes article cited Rawson’s testimony that “Capt. Wirz had never refused or denied her any privileges that she had asked of him; he was always agreeable and willing that …
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