Norton Parker Chipman is best known for successfully prosecuting Henry Wirz, the infamous commander of the Confederacy's Andersonville Prison where more than 13,000 Union soldiers died during the American Civil War. A Union officer, Chipman participated in many important events during and after the Civil War. He accompanied President Lincoln to Gettysburg and worked directly with Secretary of War Stanton. Later, he represented the District of Columbia as its delegate to Congress, led the fund-raising to complete the Washington Monument and wrote the order creating Memorial Day.
He rose to prominence in California's burgeoning agribusiness and served many years as a state Supreme Court commissioner and a Court of Appeal presiding justice. This biography provides intimate accounts of a wounded combat officer's perspective of the Civil War, a Washington insider's view of the postwar capital and a veteran's influence in shaping and developing California.