The front page is dominated by the ongoing trial of Captain Henry Werz, the Confederate commander of the notorious Andersonville prison camp. Testimony from prison guards reveals horrific conditions - one prisoner died in the stocks while being punished for attempting escape, and the stench was so overwhelming that guards themselves became sick. Werz's defense claims he was merely following orders from General Winder and Confederate Secretary of War Seddon. Meanwhile, the massive Ketchum, Son & Co. financial scandal continues to unfold as 150 creditors met in New York to sort through the wreckage. The firm's liabilities reached a staggering $3,935,000 against assets of only $3,093,000, but they're proposing to pay creditors 60 cents on the dollar. In other news, Missouri's loyalty oath deadline expires today - any preacher, teacher, or corporate officer who hasn't sworn unconditional allegiance to the Union will be barred from their positions come Monday morning.

This September 1865 snapshot captures America in the messy aftermath of Civil War victory. The Werz trial represents the nation's first attempt to prosecute war crimes, grappling with questions of individual responsibility versus following orders that would echo through future conflicts. Meanwhile, the Missouri loyalty oath reveals how bitter divisions persisted - the state was literally taking inventory of which citizens it would 'keep' versus those invited to leave. The Ketchum financial scandal shows that even in wartime's wake, Wall Street corruption continued. These stories collectively illustrate a nation simultaneously seeking justice for wartime atrocities while struggling with reconstruction, loyalty, and the return to civilian concerns like financial fraud.

• New Orleans had been without ice for two weeks in 100-degree heat until two Boston vessels arrived with 2,000 tons, causing 'the blessings of Massachusetts to melt upon all their tongues'
• A Wall Street jeweler's son named George Willis stole $3,100 from a pension office but bizarrely sent back $2,090 by express after buying himself a gold watch and diamond ring
• The Great Eastern steamship is being dispatched from Sheerness to Newfoundland to fish up pieces of the broken Atlantic cable with grapnels, with plans to lay a new cable next year
• Cotton stealing had become so rampant in Alabama that General Woods prohibited further shipments from the interior because Mobile's wharves and warehouses were 'crowded to such excess'
• Even boys had caught 'Wall Street epidemic' fever - referring to the financial speculation mania gripping the city

• The Paraguayan War mentioned here would become the deadliest conflict in South American history, ultimately killing up to 70% of Paraguay's population
• Boston Corbett's testimony was rejected because he was deemed 'a monomaniac' - this is the same Corbett who shot John Wilkes Booth and later castrated himself with scissors believing it would help him avoid temptation
• Gold closed at 111¾ in New York, meaning it took $111.75 in paper greenbacks to buy $100 in gold - a sign of massive wartime inflation that wouldn't be resolved until the 1870s
• The Fenian excitement in St. Louis was part of a broader Irish-American movement that would actually invade Canada multiple times in the coming years, believing it would force Britain to free Ireland
• Jesse D. Bright, called 'the great squelched,' was the only U.S. Senator expelled for disloyalty during the Civil War - caught writing a letter of introduction for a arms dealer to Jefferson Davis