Lew Wallace (10 April, 1827-15 February, 1905) was an American author, politician, and Union general.
Fun Facts about Lew Wallace:
1. Lewis Wallace was born in Brookville, Indiana as the second son of Esther and David Wallace. Mr. Wallace, a West Point graduate moved to Brookville after leaving the Army to start a law practice, and served in the Lieutenant governor, governor, and Congressman.
2. The family moved Covington, IN where Mrs. Wallace died from tuberculosis. David Wallace married 19 year old Zerelda Gray Sanders Wallace (who became a prominent advocate of the suffragist movement). When Mr. Wallace won the election as governor, the family moved to Indiana’s capital, Indianapolis.
3. When he was 16 years old his father told him that he won’t pay for his schooling anymore. The young man found a job in Marion County clerk’s office, joined a militia and started writing The Fair God, his first novel, which wouldn’t be published until 1873.
4. When the Mexican-American War started, Lew Wallace, 19 years old at the time, left his law studies at his father’s office and established a recruiting office for the county. Once he managed to get enough volunteers (Marion Volunteers or Company H, 1st Indiana Volunteer Infantry), he was appointed a first lieutenant serving in the army of future president Zachary Taylor. While he got a promotion to a first lieutenant he never saw combat.
5. After the war, Mr. Wallace went back to Indianapolis and a year later (1948) met Susan Elston, a poet by her own right. They were married in 1852, after being engaged for approximately three years. in 1849 Lew Wallace was admitted to the bar and established a law practice Covington, IN. Two years later the family moved to Crawfordsville, continuing to practice law and serving as a Democrat in the Indiana Senate. During that time he organized the Crawfordsville Guards Independent Militia.
6. Lew Wallace was a supporter of the United States (Union) when the American Civil War erupted. He changed his party affiliation to the Republican Party. He was asked by Indiana’s governor to recruit volunteers for the United States, he agreed but insisted on getting to command a regiment of his choice.
7. He soon rose in rank to be a Major General at the age of 34. His military career is remembered both with controversy and heroics. During the Battle of Shiloh he ruined his reputation, for decades, by accusations of taking too long to bring his division to the battlefield. However, he is also credited with saving Washington DC, by delaying the Confederate troops, led by Jubal Early, so reinforcements would arrive.
8. After the war, Mr. Wallace served in the military commission tasked with trying the Lincoln assassination conspirators. He also presided over the trial of the commandant of the notorious Anderson POW camp, Henry Wirz, Later he was appointed by President Hayes to server as the Governor of New Mexico Territory, where he tried to negotiate with Billy the Kid to pardon him in exchange for his testimony. The negotiations failed and Governor Wallace signed Billy’s death warrant. President Garfield appointed Lew Wallace as Minister to the Ottoman Empire, where he became fast friends with Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
9. Never being a religious man, Lew Wallace claimed what while writing Ben-Hur, he became a believer in Christianity. The book became a best-seller, knocking off Harriet Beecher Stowe‘s Uncle Tom’s Cabin from the top of the list.
10. Ben-Hur became a massive success, and a hugely successful stage play which featured live horses and real chariots. Later on, of course, Ben-Hur was filmed as a motion picture (1959) starring Charleston Heston, and because a beloved classic which is still referenced in today’s culture. It is a timeless movie and I highly recommend watching it if you never saw it. The acting and story are timeless, and the race scene, pre-CGI, is incredible and seem to be all too dangerous to film.
Zohar — Man of la Book
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Sources:
Lew Wallace | Wikipedia
IHB: Lew Wallace | Government of Indiana
Home – General Lew Wallace Study & Museum | Ben-Hur.com
