Born in Berlin in 1829, Louis Schade studied law in Germany before immigrating to the United States shortly after 1848. For a time, he was employed by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln’s rival for the 1858 U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. Schade gained national attention when he defended Captain Henry Wirz, commander of the notorious Andersonville prison. He was ultimately unsuccessful, and Wirz was executed on November 10, 1865.