and incidentally, one of the things they also hated about wurz is that wurz had a series of wagons that would come in every morning and they would pick up the dead. because every day there was about a pile of about a dozen dead men. and they would be taken out and buried outside the prison. well, the same wagon that took out the dead would also carry in their rations for the day. and it was absolutely a disgusting prospect to eat off of this wagon that had once carried your friends out to the dead house. but nevertheless, you know, they were hungry enough that they would do it. all right. so one of the things you had to be careful about, if you were a union prisoner, was stepping too close to the dead line. like point lookout, the stockade wall was surrounded by what were called pigeon roosts, these small little towers, where there would be one or two sentrys monitoring. you're looking south towards the south wall. here's the stock aid branch. and you seize thee pigeon roosts. they marked the stockade every few feet. and the guards had the authority to open fire anyone who stepped near

was wurz's final plea somewhat correct? should union prosecutors have gone higher up the command chain? >> this one's kind of tricky because they're just -- i think maybe the union was just trying to put blame on somebody, maybe, and that was the person that the soldiers went to the prisoners and were, like, that's the guy. to go and try jefferson davis for a war crime is just a whole another can of worms, maybe. i don't know. they just decided it was too difficult, maybe. didn't have enough evidence of it, you know. >> yeah. there's a whole host of reasons we'll talk about later in the course of why davis is not tried. because they have -- there's many things they want to try him for, including treason for leading the confederacy. but one of the things they add to this list that they never bring charges against him is what happens to union prisoners? so do you think davis is culpable? >> i think yes and no just because you also had the south getting cut off and having lack of food and everything else for their citizens let

and incidentally, one of the things they also hated about wurz is that wurz had a series of wagons that would come in every morning and they would pick up the dead. because every day there was about a pile of about a dozen dead men. and they would be taken out and buried outside the prison. well, the same wagon that took out the dead wouldo

the man responsible for the union prisoners and their daily rations was this man here, captain henry wurz, a swiss immit