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Press Release

The 49^th Annual Capt. Henry Wirz Memorial Service was held at the Bandstand in the town of Andersonville recently.  It was sponsored by the Alexander H. Stephens Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans.  Capt. Wirz was the Commander of Andersonville Prison Camp during the last 14 months of the War Between the States.  The public was invited to attend, and people from Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida were present.

George Larsen, Commander of SCV Camp 78, was the Master of Ceremonies, and led the group in the pledge of allegiance to the United States and Georgia flags and the salute to the Confederate flag.  Rev. Mark Carter had the invocation.  The guest speaker was Past SCV Chaplain in Chief Gary Carlyle from Guntersville, Alabama.  He discussed the trial of Capt. Wirz in 1865 in Washington, DC and how unfair it was.  He also talked about our Southern heritage and what we should do to preserve it.

After his speech Speaker Carlyle presented the Chaplain J. Williams Jones Christian Service Award to SCV 9^th Brigade Commander Jack Cowart.  Dignitaries from a number of Southern Heritage organizations brought greetings including the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Order of the Confederate Rose, Children of the Confederacy, the Military Order of the Stars and Bars, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans.  Georgia SCV Commander Tim Pilgrim presented an award to George Larsen for Outstanding Service as Camp Commander and to Mike Gurley for Outstanding Service as Camp Adjutant. Greetings were also brought by State Representative Mike Cheokas.  Greetings were read from the great great grandson of Capt. Wirz from Louisiana and the great great grand nephew from Switzerland along with the descendant of the man who began the Memorial Services in 1976.

The Service ended at the Bandstand  with the singing of “Dixie.”  The attendees then gathered at the Capt. Wirz monument where Confederate Re-enactment members of the Honor Guard fired their rifles.   The Service concluded with members of the Anderson Battery from Warner Robins firing their Cannon.