Upper left: Union prisoners rejoice at the site of the Stars and Stripes while being shipped home to Annapolis.
Capt. Wirtz (left) was tried and hung (above right) in Washington, following the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. Public outcry was so great, something had to be done. However, many Confederate apologists have argued that the death rate was approximately equal in North and South because neither side was prepared to hold prisoners long-term. Wirtz was a scapegoat in their eyes, and Andersonville's cemetery (below) would not have been filled, had the North not stopped prisoner exchanges.