★ ★ Wallace, Lewis

Lewis "Lew" Wallace​

Born: April 10, 1827

Birthplace: Brookville, Indiana

Father: Governor David Wallace 1799 – 1859

(Buried: Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana)​

Mother: Esther French Test 1806 – 1834

(Buried: Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Indiana)​

Wife: Susan Arnold Elston 1830 – 1907

(Buried: Oak Hill Cemetery, Crawfordsville, Indiana)​

Married: May 6, 1852

Children:

Henry Lane Wallace 1853 – 1926​

(Buried: Oak Hill Cemetery, Crawfordsville, Indiana)​

Occupation before War:

Copyist for Marion County, Indiana, Clerk's Office​

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Served in the Marion Rifles militia in Marion Co., Indiana​

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1846 – 1847: Served in Mexican – American War Adjutant and 1st​ Lt.​

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Half Owner and Editor of The Free-Soil Banner Newspaper ​

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Attorney in Covington, Indiana​

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1851 – 1853: Prosecuting Attorney for 1st​ Congressional District​

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Attorney in Crawfordsville, Indiana​

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Indiana State Senator​

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Organizer of Crawfordsville Guards, Independent Militia​

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1859 – 1860: Adopted the Zouave Uniform for his men​

Civil War Career:

1861: Helped to recruit volunteers in Indiana for the Union Army​

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1861: Adjutant General for the State of Indiana​

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1861: Colonel of 11th​ Indiana Volunteers Infantry Regiment​

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1861: Served in the Battle of Romney, Western Virginia​

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1861 – 1862: Brigadier General, Union Army, Infantry​

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1862: Served in the Battle of Forts Henry and Donelson​

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1862 – 1865: Major General, Union Army, Infantry​

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1862: Served in the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee​

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1862: Commander of Camp Chase Prisoner of War Camp​

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1862 – 1863: In charge of commission to investigate Don Carlos Buell​

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1863: Helped protect the railroad junction at North Vernon, Indiana​

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1864: Union Army Commander at the Battle of Monocacy, Maryland​

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1865: Sent to investigate Confederate Military on Rio Grande​

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1865: Discussed proposals for Trans – Mississippi to Surrender​

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1865: Member of Military Commission to investigate Conspirators​

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1865: Head of commission to investigate Henry Wirtz​

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1865: Resigned from the Union Army on November 30th​​

Occupation after War:

1865 – 1867: Major General in the Mexican Army​

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1868: Unsuccessful Candidate for U.S. Congressman​

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1870: Unsuccessful Candidate for U.S. Congressman​

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1873: Author of The Fair God​

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1876: Supporter of Rutherford B. Hayes for President​

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1878 – 1881: Governor of New Mexico Territory​

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1880: Author of Ben – Hur: A Tale of the Christ ​

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1881 – 1885: United States Minister to Ottoman Empire​

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1893: Author of The Prince of India or Why Constantinople Fell​

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Wrote a biography of President Benjamin Harrison​

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1895: Had surgery on a malignant ulcer on his nose​

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1898: Author of The Wooing of Malkatoon​

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1898: Offered to raise soldiers and lead them Spanish American War​

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1901 – 1902: Required surgeries on his nose​

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1904: Had trouble assimilating food and his nutritional level declined​

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1904 – 1905: Suffered from a difficult walking and stopped working​

Died: February 15, 1905

Place of Death: Crawfordsville, Indiana

Cause of Death: Atrophy of the stomach

Age at time of Death: 77 years old

Burial Place: Oak Hill Cemetery, Crawfordsville, Indiana

 

[ErnieMac]

Halleck relieved Wallace of command of his troops following the Battle of Monacacy claiming that by giving battle at Monocacy Wallace had endangered Washington DC. When the dust settled after Early retreated into Virginia events were reassessed and Wallace was restored. Grant would write of Wallace in his memoirs:

"There is no telling how much this result was contributed to by General Lew Wallace's leading what might well be considered almost a forlorn hope. If Early had been but one day earlier he might have entered the capital before the arrival of the reinforcements I had sent. Whether the delay caused by the battle amounted to a day or not, General Wallace contributed on this occasion, by the defeat of the troops under him a greater benefit to the cause than often falls to the lot of a commander of an equal force to render by means of a victory."​

 

[jackt62]

Grant would write of Wallace in his memoirs:
"There is no telling how much this result was contributed to by General Lew Wallace's leading what might well be considered almost a forlorn hope

I wonder if Grant was trying to make amends with Wallace for the way that Grant blamed Wallace (unfairly IMO), for the mixup in the route march at Shiloh that delayed his division from taking part in the first day's action.

 

[ErnieMac]

Possibly. Also written in his memoirs Grant revealed that he had received from the wife of BG W. H. L. Wallace a letter which MG Lew Wallace had sent to her husband from Crump's Landing just before Shiloh. In the letter Lew Walace outlined plans he was taking to familiarize himself with the area. Grant indicated that as a result of the letter he had changed his thoughts about Lew Wallace. A little more than a month before his death Grant wrote:

[NOTE.—Since writing this chapter I have received from Mrs. W. H. L. Wallace, widow of the gallant general who was killed in the first day's fight on the field of Shiloh, a letter from General Lew. Wallace to him dated the morning of the 5th. At the date of this letter it was well known that the Confederates had troops out along the Mobile & Ohio railroad west of Crump's landing and Pittsburg landing, and were also collecting near Shiloh. This letter shows that at that time General Lew. Wallace was making preparations for the emergency that might happen for the passing of reinforcements between Shiloh and his position, extending from Crump's landing westward, and he sends it over the road running from Adamsville to the Pittsburg landing and Purdy road. These two roads intersect nearly a mile west of the crossing of the latter over Owl Creek, where our right rested. In this letter General Lew. Wallace advises General W. H. L. Wallace that he will send "to-morrow" (and his letter also says "April 5th," which is the same day the letter was dated and which, therefore, must have been written on the 4th) some cavalry to report to him at his headquarters, and suggesting the propriety of General W. H. L. Wallace's sending a company back with them for the purpose of having the cavalry at the two landings familiarize themselves with the road so that they could "act promptly in case of emergency as guides to and from the different camps."​

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This modifies very materially what I have said, and what has been said by others, of the conduct of General Lew. Wallace at the battle of Shiloh. It shows that he naturally, with no more experience than he had at the time in the profession of arms, would take the particular road that he did start upon in the absence of orders to move by a different road.​

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The mistake he made, and which probably caused his apparent dilatoriness, was that of advancing some distance after he found that the firing, which would be at first directly to his front and then off to the left, had fallen back until it had got very much in rear of the position of his advance. This falling back had taken place before I sent General Wallace orders to move up to Pittsburg landing and, naturally, my order was to follow the road nearest the river. But my order was verbal, and to a staff officer who was to deliver it to General Wallace, so that I am not competent to say just what order the General actually received.​

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General Wallace's division was stationed, the First brigade at Crump's landing, the Second out two miles, and the Third two and a half miles out. Hearing the sounds of battle General Wallace early ordered his First and Third brigades to concentrate on the Second. If the position of our front had not changed, the road which Wallace took would have been somewhat shorter to our right than the River road.​

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U. S. GRANT.​

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MOUNT MACGREGOR, NEW YORK, June 21, 1885.​

 

[USS ALASKA]

Politician in Uniform: General Lew Wallace and the Civil War by Christopher R. Mortenson

Lew Wallace (1827–1905) won fame for his novel, Ben-Hur, and for his negotiations with William H. Bonney, aka Billy the Kid, during the Lincoln County Wars of 1878–81. He was a successful lawyer, a notable Indiana politician, and a capable military administrator. And yet, as history and his own memoir tell us, Wallace would have traded all these accolades for a moment of military glory in the Civil War to save the Union. Where previous accounts have sought to discredit or defend Wallace's performance as a general in the war, author Christopher R. Mortenson takes a more nuanced approach. Combining military biography, historical analysis, and political insight, Politician in Uniform provides an expanded and balanced view of Wallace's military career—and offers the reader a new understanding of the experience of a voluntary general like Lew Wallace.

A rising politician from Indiana, Wallace became a Civil War general through his political connections. While he had much success as a regimental commander, he ran into trouble at the brigade and division levels. A natural rivalry and tension between West Pointers and political generals might have accounted for some of these difficulties, but many, as Mortenson shows us, were of Wallace's own making. A temperamental officer with a "rough" conception of manhood, Wallace often found his mentors wanting, disrespected his superiors, and vigorously sought opportunities for glorious action in the field, only to perform poorly when given the chance.

Despite his flaws, Mortenson notes, Wallace contributed both politically and militarily to the war effort—in the fight for Fort Donelson and at the Battle of Shiloh, in the defense of Cincinnati and southern Indiana, and in the administration of Baltimore and the Middle Department. Detailing these and other instances of Wallace's success along with his weaknesses and failures, Mortenson provides an unusually thorough and instructive picture of this complicated character in his military service. His book clearly demonstrates the unique complexities of evaluating the performance of a politician in uniform.

Politician in Uniform: General Lew Wallace and the Civil War: Mortenson, Christopher R.: 9780806161952: Amazon.com: Books

Politician in Uniform: General Lew Wallace and the Civil War [Mortenson, Christopher R.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Politician in Uniform: General Lew Wallace and the Civil War

www.amazon.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[Pollaco]

He look surprisingly taller on that book cover. I always figured him a shorter person. Anyone know how tall he was?

 

[USS ALASKA]

Butler University
Digital Commons @ Butler University
Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection
Undergraduate Scholarship
5-10-2014

Lew Wallace: An Unsung Hoosier Hero
Jordan C. Lee
Butler University

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Scholarship at Digital Commons @Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @Butler University. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Introduction
The way in which the American Civil War is remembered varies from one region to another. People, places, and events bring moments of pride and sorrow for those who remember, and distinct figures rise and fade into memory over time. Some individuals, however, cling to their place in history through the words of those who remember them. For the state of Indiana, I feel as if one individual in question is overlooked. We remember Benjamin Harrison, the future president, born in Ohio, serving as a colonel to the 70th Indiana, and eventually a general over an entire brigade. We remember Governor Oliver Morton, the man who led Indiana politically through the great Civil War. However, only a handful of people remember Lew Wallace, who had also been a military leader, a politician, and a widely renowned author. Wallace had mingled with all of these highlighted figures of the nineteenth century: he was Adjutant General under Oliver Morton, he was a Major General under Ulysses S. Grant, he served alongside William Sherman, he had been swayed to the Republican party because of his experiences with Abraham Lincoln, and he had negotiated with infamous outlaws such as Billy the Kid. He fought valiantly in many battles during the Civil War, his actions at the Battle of Monocacy arguably saving the capital from Confederate capture. He had been an established politician and lawyer, and he had held such positions as the governor of the New Mexico Territory and the United States Minister to the Ottoman Empire. He had written the book Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, which made him a renowned author of the century. Despite his impressive list of accomplishments, it is difficult to see how he had been so easily forgotten.

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1227&context=ugtheses

Cheers,
USS ALASKA