ShareThisTuesday, November 21, 2006
Comparisons of some passages in William Marvel's "Andersonville: The Last Depot," University of North Carolina Press, 1994, with those in R. Fred Ruhlman's "Captain Henry Wirz and Andersonville Prison: A Reappraisal." The University of Tennessee Press suspended sales of Ruhlman's book pending investigation of complaints of plagiarism and review of the book.
Marvel, p. 21: "He nominated Alexander W. Persons, a twenty-seven-year-old lawyer from Fort Valley, barely thirty miles up the rail line from Anderson. Persons was lieutenant colonel of the 55th Georgia.... The 55th had never been in a real battle, and it enjoyed no great reputation, once having mutinied...."
Ruhlman, p. 53: "Cobb recommended Alexander W. Persons, a twenty-seven-year-old attorney from Fort Valley, Georgia, a small town approximately thirty miles from Andersonville. Persons was the lieutenant colonel of the 55th Georgia Infantry, a regiment of dubious distinction. The 55th had never seen actual combat and had once mutinied...."
Marvel, pp. 24-25: "A few tried to run for it anyway, but they found the guards true to their word."
Ruhlman, p. 57: "...a few attempted to escape and discovered that the guards were true to their word."
Marvel, p. 36: "Mrs. Wolf was a perfectly respectable Methodist lady whose husband had recently died, leaving her with two small girls."
Ruhlman, p. 77: "She was a respectable Methodist lady whose husband had recently died, leaving her with two daughters to raise."
Marvel, p. 36: "All his life Wirz had wanted to be a doctor, and in 1854 he joined Dr. Webber as an apprentice ...."
Ruhlman, p. 77: "Wirz had wanted to be a doctor all his life, and in 1854 he joined Webber ... as his apprentice."
Marvel, p. 37: "In August of 1862 Wirz assumed command of all Richmond prisons, exerting a strict but reasonably humane authority over the Federal captives. He denied the Yankees any opportunity to communicate with their own officers, or to buy contraband from civilians, but he did not hesitate to arrest a guard for shooting one of the prisoners."
Ruhlman, p. 78: "By August 1862, Captain Wirz was in charge of all prisoners in the Richmond area. ... (H)is administration was strict but humane in its treatment of prisoners of war. Wirz removed any opportunity for the prisoners to communicate with their officers, forbade the sale of contraband by civilians to the prisoners, and quickly arrested one of the guards for shooting a prisoner."
Marvel, p. 37: "Wirz took Ould at his word, embarking on a quest of another four thousand miles, crisscrossing the Deep South from Columbus, Georgia, to Houston, Texas."
Ruhlman, p. 79: "Wirz took Ould at his word and sojourned another four thousand miles, tracking across the Deep South from Columbus, Georgia, to Houston, Texas. ..."
Marvel, pp. 39-40: "...a dozen men came down with the symptoms of fever, headache, wracking spasms of vomiting, and the little red eruptions. ..."
Ruhlman, p. 143: "... a dozen more prisoners were showing symptoms of the disease: fever, headache, spasms of vomiting, and small red sores. ..."
Marvel, p. 244: "Men swore they saw Wirz shoot prisoners at point-blank range, citing names that never appeared on the death register."
Ruhlman, p. 192: "... others told of witnessing Wirz shoot prisoners at point-blank range. ... They gave names of victims who never appeared on the death register."
Marvel, p. 245: "The alleged affidavit survives, bearing a date of August 27, 1864 ... and it is signed in a perfectly steady hand."
Ruhlman, pp. 194-95: "The alleged affidavit ... bearing the date of 27 August 1864, can still be viewed and bears a signature written in a strong, steady hand."
Marvel, p. 246: "On the chilly morning of November 10, Wirz rose in his cell at the Old Capitol and wrote a last letter to his wife, whom he had apparently not been allowed to see. ..."
Ruhlman, p. 209: "The morning of 10 November 1865 was cool. Wirz sat in his cell writing a last letter to his wife. He had not been allowed to see her. ..."
