Abstract
The career of the controversial Brigadier General, John Henry Winder, provides valuable insights into the lack of organization and the inefficient administration of the Confederate Government. A recent subject of historical research, the administrative difficulties of the Confederate States of America open a new vista of the tragedy of the rebel Government. After hurriedly withdrawing from the Union the eleven states concomitantly prepared for war and endeavored to establish an organization to lead their new nation. But the Confederacy neglected to create systems within the government to handle such surging issues as the full mobilization of the civilian population and the control of the numerous Yankee prisoners of war. With both of these problems, swollen by neglect, John H. Winder struggled desperately. As the Head of the Department of Henrico, he policed the civilian population in the Confederate capital. As commander of the prisons, Winder dealt with an undefined system which aroused the ire of both Northerner and Southerner. In these positions he was an active, integral and essential factor in the whole make-up of the hastily formed and unconsolidated Confederate Government. |Winder held positions which by their nature begot controversy, ill-feeling and hatred and which lent themselves well to half-truths and fabrications. Popularly depicted as the barbarian of the Confederacy, this little known personality became the symbol of a suspected attempt to exterminate the Yankee prisoners. Yet, the officials with whom he worked acknowledged him as an honest and upright gentleman who did all that was within his power to ameliorate the conditions of the prisoners of war. |This study of the life of John Henry Winder is an endeavor, by a fellow Marylander, to evaluate the conflicting testimony in the light of historical fact. It is an objective attempt to recreate John Henry Winder and his deeds thus clarifying his position and character and drawing conclusions which are sound and warranted.