November 10, 1809

1809 David B. Mitchell was sworn in as governor of Georgia for the first of three terms (1809-13 and 1815-17).

November 10, 1864

1864 Sherman’s forces -- including several thousand Union hospital patients -- evacuated Rome. During the evacuation, Sherman gave the following order to Brig. Gen. John Corse: You will destroy tonight all public property not needed by your command, all foundries, mills, workshops, warehouses, railroad depots or other storehouses convenient to the railroad, together with all wagon shops, tanneries, or other factories useful to the enemy. Destroy all bridges immediately, then move your command tomorrow to Kingston. [Order in collection of Rome City Library]

November 10, 1865

1865 Confederate prison commander Henry Wirz died by hanging in Washington, D.C., becoming the only Confederate military leader executed for his part in the Civil War. Born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1822, Wirz graduated from the University of Zurich, later obtaining medical degrees from the medical colleges of Paris and Berlin. In 1849, he immigrated to Kentucky, moving six years later to Louisiana. With the outbreak of the Civil war, Dr. Wirz joined a regiment Louisiana volunteers as a sergeant. He was severely wounded in battle and promoted to captain for his bravery. Wounds to his arm made it almost useless, so he was sent to work with the provost marshal in charge of Confederate prisoner of war camps. He subsequently commanded prison camps in Richmond, Va. and Tuscaloosa, Ala.

In Nov. 1863, the Confederacy was faced with growing numbers of Union prisoners and no place to put them. The War Department decided to build a large prison in the small southwest Georgia town of Andersonville. Though officially designated Fort Sumter, the facility commonly was known as Andersonville Prison. In Feb. 1864, the first 600 Union prisoners were sent to Andersonville, and the next month, Capt. Wirz was placed in command. By April, 10,000 Union prisoners had been sent to Andersonville, 19,000 by May, and more than 33,000 by August, when the population reached its peak. In its fourteen months of existence Andersonville [see photo] housed more than 45,000 federal prisoners, of which almost 13,000 died. Conditions at the prison were horrible. However, while Wirz was "harsh and rancorous in his demeanor and unusually coarse in his speech," he was operating under extremely difficult circumstances. His appeals for help with unanswered. With the Confederacy crumbling there was often not enough food, clothing, and shelter for their own troops in the field; the situation for the prison camp was even more desperate. Moreover, Gen. Grant had stopped the practice of prisoner exchanges.

Wirz remained at Andersonville throughout the remainder of the war with his family. After the war, Wirz was taken to Macon, Georgia where Union officers questioned him at length about the prison, but then released him to return to his family at Andersonville. Apparently, they had second thoughts, for while Wirz was waiting for the train, he was arrested and transported to Washington. On May 10, 1865, Wirz was placed in the Old Capitol Prison to await trial on charges of "murder, in violation of the laws and customs of war." The trial lasted from Aug. 23 to Oct. 24. With his abrasive personality, Wirz was undoubtedly a poor choice for prison commander but no evidence exists to show that he ever intentionally murdered a prisoner. In fact, at his trial, he produced copies of numerous letters he had written to the Confederate government pleading for food, clothing, and medicine. However, Lincoln had recently been assassinated and the mood in the nation’s capitol was not one of sympathy for the South. Wirz was convicted, and on Nov. 10 he was hanged in the yard of the Old Capitol Prison. [Click here to view Library of Congress photos of the execution.] He was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C. The simple gravestone says, "Captain Henry Wirz, C.S.A., Confederate Hero Martyr, Died Nov. 10, 1865."

November 10, 1931

1931 A monument honoring Nancy Hart was dedicated in Hartwell, Georgia -- the county seat of Hart County--reputed to be the only county in the U.S. named for a woman.

November 10, 1934

1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived in Warm Springs, Ga. for his twenty-eighth visit to his "second home."

November 10, 1943

1943 Georgia congressman Saxby Chambliss was born in Warrenton, N.C. Obtaining a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Georgia (1966) and a JD from the University of Tennessee College of Law (1968), Chambliss moved to Moultrie, Ga., where he practiced business and agricultural law. Unsuccessfully running in 1992, he came back and won election as the Republican nominee for the 8th congressional district seat.

November 10, 1980

1980 Sixteen year old Patrick Rogers disappeared. At first it was thought he had run away from home, but he was the latest victim in the Atlanta Child Murders case.