Lew Wallace was the youngest Major General in the Union Army at the time of his appointment early in the Civil War, which is especially interesting since he never went to West Point. His father was a lawyer and served as Governor of Indiana, while his grandfather was a Circuit Court judge and congressman. Born in Indiana in 1827, Wallace possessed natural talents in writing and drawing. Although he studied law and briefly served as a second lieutenant during the Mexican War, he did not see any action. Subsequently, he ventured into various pursuits such as publishing a newspaper, practicing law, organizing a Zouave unit militia, and being elected as a state attorney. However, his book did not achieve success.
Lew Wallace wrote Ben Hur, the best-selling American novel of the 19th century, and its success made him a wealthy and internationally famous man. Years earlier, he had been an acclaimed war hero and the youngest major general in the Union Army, before losing his command when blamed for the near disaster at the Battle of Shiloh. Wallace would devote much of his life to trying to clear his name of that charge.
Lloyd W Klein explains.
Lewis Wallace.
Civil War
The outbreak of the Civil War brought about significant changes in Wallace's life. As a staunch supporter of the Union, he switched his party allegiance and demonstrated exceptional skills in recruitment. Lew Wallace commanded the Indiana Zouaves, 11th Indiana Regiment Infantry. The 11th Indiana Infantry Regiment was organized at Indianapolis on April 25, 1861, for a three-month term of service, then reorganized and mustered in for the three-year service on August 31, 1861, with Col. Lewis Wallace as its commander. He served as Indiana's adjutant general and eventually assumed command of a regiment, despite lacking formal military education. In June 1861, he led a successful skirmish, resulting in his promotion to brigadier general and the command of a brigade.
Although he did not participate in the battle, he was entrusted with the command of Fort Henry by General Henry Halleck as the Union advanced towards Fort Donelson. Despite Grant's orders to remain on defense, Wallace took the initiative to launch a counterattack, preventing the enemy from escaping and reclaiming lost ground. His actions during the Battle of Fort Donelson earned him a promotion to major general at the age of 34.
Wallace commanded a brigade of volunteers at the Battle of Fort Donelson in Tennessee in February 1862. After his initiative and boldness had help secured the Federal victory and the capture of the entire Confederate army there, he was promoted to major general, making him the youngest major general in the Federal army.
Shiloh
Shiloh (April 6–7, 1862) was the place where Grant and Sherman came into their own, but it was almost the end of their careers. PGT Beauregard planned a surprise advance and attack at Pittsburg Landing, on the west bank of the Tennessee River. Exactly how involved Albert Sidney Johnston's role in the planning of the battle has been a subject of controversy. Larry J Daniel argues that Johnston was ill-equipped for the task and lacked the necessary skills. The northern newspapers exaggerated the nature of the surprise at the time. Although there was no entrenchment, Sherman had received prior warning and some elements of the army quickly discovered the southern lines. Despite facing early setbacks, Sherman displayed remarkable tenacity and skill, proving to himself and others that he possessed the emotional and cognitive abilities required to lead an army.
At the time of the battle, Brigadier General Lew Wallace commanded a division under Major General Grant. On April 6, 1862, Confederate forces under Albert Sidney Johnston launched a surprise attack against Grant’s army near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. Wallace’s division was stationed several miles away at Crump’s Landing, north of the battlefield. When the Confederate attack began, Wallace received orders to move his division to support the Union line.
Grant claimed he ordered Wallace to take a specific route that would bring him directly into the Union right flank. Wallace, however, had already set off on a different route—one that made more sense based on the situation earlier that morning and where Union forces had been positioned. Wallace’s division was at Crump's Landing, five miles north of the Union line at the start of the battle. When the battle opened, Grant took his steamboat, Tigress, south to Crump's Landing, where he ordered Wallace to prepare his division to move, but did not specify the route to be taken.
Wallace did not initiate the movement of his division until noon. He then marched his forces towards Sherman's location, utilizing a road near the river. At 2:00 pm, a messenger informed Wallace that he had taken the wrong road. Wallace believed that he was supposed to reinforce Sherman and McClernand at their original camps, unaware that these divisions had been pushed back towards Pittsburg Landing. Consequently, Wallace found himself behind enemy lines and had to retrace his steps. As a result, he did not arrive on the first day of the battle.
He was eventually ordered to turn back and take another route, which cost several hours. His division did not arrive in time to participate in the fighting on the first day of the battle.
Much of the responsibility for the near disaster at Shiloh was pinned on Wallace. As the battle unfolded, commanding general U.S. Grant ordered Wallace to bring his men to the front. Unaware that the Federals had been driven back from their original position, Wallace took the road leading to where they had been before the battle began. Once he learned that the road he was on was taking him away from the army he was supposed to reinforce, rather than toward it, he countermarched his command and took a different road. The delay prevented Wallace from reaching the battlefield until the first day’s fighting had ended. Grant was furious, insisting that his orders specifically directed Wallace to take the other road. Wallace denied the claim, saying the orders had given no directions as to which road to take, and that he had taken the one that he believed would bring him to the action quickest.
In the confusion of the battle the written order was lost, so that what it actually said will never be known. But the blame nonetheless fell on Wallace and he was relieved of command. After the battle, Grant was unsure why Lew Wallace’s division did not arrive when and where he expected it.
Wallace’s men finally arrived late in the day and participated in the Union counterattack on April 7, helping turn the tide in the North’s favor. However, the damage to Wallace’s reputation had been done. Had he arrived earlier, his command of 5000 men might have assisted at the Hornet’s Nest, perhaps saving some of those from surrendering.
On the second day of the battle, the Army of the Ohio, led by Don Carlos Buell, arrived, along with Lew Wallace's division. The Union forces launched a successful counterattack, taking advantage of the Confederate lines, which had become disorganized and outnumbered. The fortunes of the battle shifted in favor of the Union, as Beauregard's men became entangled and exhausted. The Union forces pushed the Confederate lines back entirely, securing a significant victory.
The Controversy
Wallace, deeply wounded by the long-standing criticism, defended himself publicly and privately for decades. He claimed that Grant’s original orders were vague and that he acted in good faith. Wallace wrote letters, articles, and memoirs attempting to clear his name. In one pointed comment, he said: “I have been held responsible for a disaster I did not cause, and prevented from earning honors I might otherwise have won.” He also believed that politics and Grant’s rising prominence after the war made it unlikely that Grant would ever admit error or to clear him.
Grant in Battles and Leaders (1885) was sharp and critical of Wallace. He portrayed Wallace as having misinterpreted orders and delayed his movement to the battlefield, suggesting that Wallace’s failure to arrive on April 6 was a significant lapse that could have cost the Union the battle. This account echoed the prevailing narrative at the time—that Wallace was slow, took the wrong road, and failed to support his commander in a crisis.
In his Personal Memoirs (1885–1886) written while dying of cancer and racing against time, Grant’s tone softened. He still repeated the version of events that Wallace took the “wrong road” and had to be redirected, but he avoided assigning overt blame. He did not accuse Wallace of incompetence, nor did he suggest malice or dereliction of duty. Grant showed greater understanding of the confusion and fog of war. He acknowledged that Wallace believed he was following the correct route based on earlier assumptions about Union positions. Though Grant didn’t retract his earlier criticism, he presented the episode in a more even-handed, factual way, without the sting of his previous judgment. In a footnote, Grant acknowledged learning from Ann Wallace, the wife of General William H.L. Wallace (not related to Lew, who had been killed at Shiloh), that Lew Wallace’s division had taken a different route—presumably the one that made sense earlier in the day when Union lines were thought to be farther forward. This new information shaped Grant’s perception of the event, and he included it in his memoirs. Grant's memoirs, specifically on page 286, contain his admission that Lew Wallace's actions were understandable.
Modern historians tend to side more with Wallace, attributing the delay to ambiguous orders, a rapidly changing battlefield, and the primitive state of Civil War communications and maps In hindsight, both men were partly right: Wallace did what he thought was correct based on initial orders, and Grant had reason to be frustrated when desperately needing reinforcements. But Grant never formally or publicly admitted Wallace had done nothing wrong, and Wallace never felt vindicated in his lifetime.
After Shiloh
Following the battle, Halleck relieved Wallace of his command, although it is usually suggested that this was done at the behest of Grant, although there is no documentary evidence of that. Wallace then took charge of organizing the defenses of Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. However, in March 1864, he returned to command as the leader of the VIII Corps, with headquarters in Baltimore.
In July 1864, a small force under his command was able to sufficiently delay Confederate General Jubal Early at the Battle of Monocacy in Maryland that he may have saved Washington D.C. from capture. Nevertheless, the cloud of the Shiloh controversy still hung over him and would for the rest of his life.
Battle of Monocacy
Early's advance into the Shenandoah Valley and subsequent movement into Western Maryland in 1864 encountered a significant obstacle in the form of Lew Wallace's defense at Monocacy, just outside Frederick, Maryland. At this time, General Robert E. Lee had established his forces in entrenched positions at Petersburg and Richmond, while a Confederate army contingent approached Washington DC. However, the only opposition in their path was a smaller force of inexperienced Union infantry, led by the disgraced General Wallace. This outfit had no battle experience, and all of the resources were going to Grant. His 2300 men were mostly 100-day men: a true backwater command.
Recognizing the urgency of the situation, General Ulysses S. Grant dispatched 3,500 men under General Ricketts to support Wallace. Nevertheless, there were virtually no other Union army units positioned between Frederick and Washington DC. Wallace understood the need to delay Early's advance until a more substantial defense could be organized.
Without receiving any specific orders from his superiors, Wallace made the strategic decision to position his forces along the Monocacy River, a few miles south of Frederick. This defensive stance aimed to protect the routes to both Baltimore and Washington DC. Following several skirmishes, a full-scale battle took place on July 9. Despite being heavily outnumbered, with Early's forces totaling 16,000 compared to Wallace's 4,500, the Union army held its ground. Even a cavalry attack failed to dislodge them, despite the Confederates attempting to outflank the Union forces. Eventually, the Confederate infantry executed a double envelopment maneuver, forcing the Union army to retreat across a stone bridge. Remarkably, the Union army survived five attacks from one of the most skilled division commanders in the Confederate army at that time. After 24 hours of intense fighting, the Union forces were compelled to fall back. Early's losses amounted to approximately 800 men out of the 14,000 engaged, while Wallace's forces suffered 1,300 casualties out of their 5,800. Wallace subsequently retreated to Baltimore. However, Early's delay in breaching this defensive line provided crucial time for the fortification of Fort Stevens. In his memoirs, Early himself acknowledged the critical impact that the Battle of Monocacy had on his ability to launch an attack on Washington DC.
The disgraced general, despite his valiant stand, initially faced blame from General Grant for yet another error. Consequently, following the Union's defeat, he experienced a brief demotion. Grant promptly relieved Wallace of his command, appointing Edward Ord as the new commander of the troops. However, once Federal officials recognized Wallace's accomplishments, he was reinstated to his position. Grant, in his memoirs, generously acknowledges Wallace's contribution. It was only later realized that, despite facing overwhelming odds, Wallace had bought crucial time that ultimately saved Washington DC. Although the battle at Monocacy was relatively small, its impact was significant. The engagement effectively halted General Early, providing Washington with a day's worth of time to secure reinforcements. This delay cost Early the initiative, from which he could never fully recover. The subsequent battle near Washington DC at Fort Fisher proved unsuccessful. Sheridan pursued Early back into the Shenandoah Valley and defeated him in multiple battles, most notably at Cedar Creek. Furthermore, the preservation of Washington influenced the course of the War and played a role in Lincoln's re-election. Wallace's actions at Monocacy should have been sufficient for Grant to recognize and revive his career.
Instead, Grant entrusted Wallace with non-command responsibilities. He sent Wallace to Texas in 1865 to negotiate a surrender with Kirby Smith. Wallace also served on the Lincoln Conspiracy Commission and headed the Wirz Commission. Later, he assumed the role of governor of the New Mexico territory, served as a minister to the Ottoman Empire, and, of course, became an esteemed author of a significant piece of American literature.
Post Bellum Activities
After the war, Wallace briefly accepted an appointment as general in the Mexican army before returning home to Indiana to resume his law practice and politics. He was defeated in two runs for Congress, but his loyal service to the Republican party (and to candidate James Garfield) earned him an appointment as Territorial Governor of New Mexico. Afterwards, he was appointed U.S. Minister to the Ottoman Empire (succeeding his former Confederate adversary James Longstreet).
Governor Of New Mexico Territory
Billy the Kid, also known as Henry McCarty, adopted the alias William H Bonney, which was not his true name. Despite his young age of 21, he had already taken the lives of 21 men before his own demise. Although his connection to Lew Wallace and the Civil War was not direct, it provides an intriguing insight into the historical context of that era.
At the tender age of 15, McCarty found himself orphaned. His first brush with the law occurred at 16 when he was arrested for stealing food in 1875. Merely ten days later, he committed another offense by robbing a Chinese laundry. Although he was apprehended, he managed to escape shortly after. Fleeing from the New Mexico Territory to the neighboring Arizona Territory, McCarty effectively transformed himself into an outlaw and a federal fugitive. It was during this time, in 1877, that he began using the name "William H. Bonney".
Following an altercation in August 1877, Bonney took the life of a blacksmith, making him a wanted man in Arizona. He subsequently returned to New Mexico and joined a group of cattle rustlers. Bonney gained notoriety in the region when he became a member of the Regulators and participated in the Lincoln County War of 1878. Alongside two other Regulators, he was later accused of killing three individuals, including Lincoln County Sheriff William J. Brady and one of his deputies.
Bonney's notoriety reached new heights in December 1880 when his crimes were reported by the Las Vegas Gazette and The Sun in New York City. Sheriff Pat Garrett successfully apprehended Bonney later that month. In April 1881, Bonney stood trial and was convicted for the murder of Brady. He was sentenced to be hanged in May of the same year. However, on April 28, Bonney managed to escape from jail, killing two sheriff's deputies in the process. He remained on the run for over two months before Garrett eventually caught up with him. On July 14, 1881, at the age of 21, Bonney was shot and killed by Garrett in Fort Sumner. It is worth noting that rumors circulated suggesting that Garrett did not actually kill Bonney, but rather orchestrated his escape.
Lew Wallace around 1903.
Billy the Kid
Wallace's arrival in Santa Fe on September 29, 1878, marked the beginning of his tenure as governor of the New Mexico Territory. This period was characterized by rampant lawlessness and political corruption, posing significant challenges for Wallace. One of his primary objectives was to address the Lincoln County War, a violent and contentious conflict among the county's residents. Additionally, Wallace sought to put an end to the series of Apache raids on territorial settlers.
In his efforts to restore order in Lincoln County, Wallace took decisive action on March 1, 1879. Recognizing that previous attempts had failed, he issued orders for the arrest of those responsible for the local killings. Notably, one of the outlaws apprehended was Billy the Kid. while governor of New Mexico, Wallace issued the “Wanted Dead or Alive” order for Billy the Kid. Subsequently, on March 17, 1879, Wallace held a clandestine meeting with Bonney, who had witnessed the murder of a prominent Lincoln County lawyer named Huston Chapman. Wallace's objective was to secure Bonney's testimony in the trial of Chapman's accused murderers. However, Bonney had his own demands, seeking protection from his enemies and amnesty for his past crimes. During their meeting, an agreement was reached, with Bonney becoming an informant in exchange for a full pardon. To ensure Bonney's safety, Wallace orchestrated a "fake" arrest and confined him in a local jail on March 20. As agreed, Bonney testified in court on April 14, providing crucial information against those involved in Chapman's murder. However, the local district attorney reneged on the agreement, refusing to release the outlaw. Faced with this betrayal, Bonney managed to escape and resumed his violent activities. In response, Garrett, a friend of Wallace, offered a $500 reward for Bonney's capture. This turn of events raises questions about whether Wallace genuinely intended to grant Bonney the promised pardon or if it was merely a ploy to gain his cooperation. The controversy remains whether or not he offered the bargain cited above.
Ben Hur
Just before leaving for Constantinople, Wallace published a novel he had written during his tenure in New Mexico. That book, Ben Hur, would become the best-selling American novel of the 19th century.
Wallace's literary career was born out of his boredom with studying law, as he openly admitted. Among his various works, his most renowned novel is the historical tale titled "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ" (1880). This book achieved remarkable success, becoming the best-selling American novel of the 19th century and maintaining that distinction until Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" surpassed it. Interestingly, Wallace completed this masterpiece while serving as the territorial governor of New Mexico in Santa Fe. "Ben-Hur" narrates the gripping story of Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish nobleman who endures false accusations and subsequent enslavement by the Romans after being wrongly convicted of attempting to assassinate the Roman governor of Judaea. The novel not only explores themes of revenge and redemption but also intertwines the hero's journey with that of Jesus Christ.
Wallace had dedicated a significant portion of his life attempting to make amends for his perceived mistake at Shiloh, a theme that he also incorporated into his novel "Ben-Hur.". The novel drew heavily on Wallace’s life experience and the Shiloh controversy, particularly the sting of misunderstanding, unjust blame, and the long quest for redemption, which deeply influenced the emotional and moral fabric of the novel. The themes of Injustice and vindication, and the journey toward forgiveness, are the underpinnings of the novel. Wallace felt he had been wronged at Shiloh, unfairly blamed for failing to support Grant in time, and branded with a stain on his military career that haunted him for decades. The emotional core of Ben-Hur is the story of a man undone by injustice, who fights for redemption and meaning, and is a deeply personal reflection of Lew Wallace’s own life journey, including his painful legacy from Shiloh.
In Ben-Hur, the central character, Judah Ben-Hur, is a man falsely accused of attempted murder and condemned to slavery. Like Wallace, Ben-Hur spends much of his life struggling to restore his honor and find his place in a world that had cast him aside. Wallace was a deeply reflective man, especially later in life, and came to see personal injustice in a larger moral and even spiritual context. In Ben-Hur, Judah ultimately finds peace not through vengeance but through an encounter with Christ, which reshapes his understanding of justice, mercy, and purpose. This reflects Wallace’s philosophical reconciliation with the past—though he never fully forgave Grant, he found a higher peace through faith and writing. The famous chariot race, where Ben-Hur defeats his rival Messala (a stand-in for betrayal and empire), is often read as a metaphor for triumph over false judgment and humiliation. While not a literal retelling of Shiloh, it’s a narrative inversion: where Wallace had lost public esteem, Ben-Hur regains it, spectacularly and righteously.
Later in life, Wallace acknowledged that his religious searching and his internal struggles—including those tied to Shiloh—helped shape Ben-Hur. He once said: “The consciousness of having been wronged… became a sort of spur. It made me want to show that I was capable of something more.”
Ben Hur made Wallace a wealthy man, enabling him to spend the last years of his life pursuing his interests in writing, architecture, engineering, and in trying to clear his name from the Shiloh accusation. When the Spanish-American War broke out, Wallace, who was 71 years old, offered to raise a volunteer regiment. When the offer was declined, he attempted to enlist as a private. He died at his home in Crawfordsville, Indiana, in 1905, at age 77.
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