Ben Hur

Union General, lawyer, governor, and author Lewis Wallace was born April 10th 1827.


Lewis Wallace was born April 10th 1827 in Brookville Indiana the son of David and Esther French [Test] Wallace. He worked as a clerk and studied law. During the Mexican American War Wallace served with the First Indiana as 2nd Lieutenant, seeing only minor action. Following the war in 1849 he became a lawyer, and finally became an Indiana State Senator.

At the beginning of the Civil War Wallace served as the Indiana Adjutant General helping to raise troops, but then moved on to Colonel of the 11th Indiana. He continued to move up in rank to Brigadier General and saw action at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Monocacy and others. At the close of the war Wallace sat on the court-martials trail that sent Andersonville commander Henry Wirz and the Lincoln conspirators to the gallows. Wallace resigned from US service November 30th 1865. He would latter serve the government as a doplomat to Turkey, and as Governor of the New Mexico Territory during the “Lincoln County War“. After all this what Wallace is best remembered for is writing, he was the author of “Ben Hurl”.

Wallace died in Crawfordsville Indiana February 15th 1905 most likely from cancer. He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.