Lew Wallace’s Followers (67)

Lew Wallace

Born

in Brookville, Indiana, The United States

April 10, 1827

Died

February 15, 1905

Genre

Biography, Historical Fiction, Religion

edit data

Lewis "Lew" Wallace was a lawyer, governor, Union general in the American Civil War, American statesman, and author, best remembered for his historical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

From Civil War Biography:

Although he would have much preferred to be remembered as a highly successful military hero, Lew Wallace has been thwarted in this ambition and is best known as an author. Born in Indiana, he had worked as a clerk and early displayed a fascination for Mexico which would affect him in later years. During the Mexican War he served as a second lieutenant in the lst Indiana but saw only minor action. In 1849 he was admitted to the bar in his native state and seven years later entered the state senate.
With the outbreak of the Civil War Lewis "Lew" Wallace was a lawyer, governor, Union general in the American Civil War, American statesman, and author, best remembered for his historical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

From Civil War Biography:

Although he would have much preferred to be remembered as a highly successful military hero, Lew Wallace has been thwarted in this ambition and is best known as an author. Born in Indiana, he had worked as a clerk and early displayed a fascination for Mexico which would affect him in later years. During the Mexican War he served as a second lieutenant in the lst Indiana but saw only minor action. In 1849 he was admitted to the bar in his native state and seven years later entered the state senate.
With the outbreak of the Civil War he offered his services, and his assignments included: adjutant general of Indiana (April 1861); colonel, 11th Indiana (April 25, 1861); colonel, 11th Indiana (reorganized August 31, 1861); brigadier general, USV (September 3, 1861); commanding 3rd Division, District of Cairo, Department of the Missouri (February 14-17, 1862); major general, USV (March 21, 1862); commanding 3rd Division, Army of the Tennessee (February 17-June 1862); commanding 8th Corps, Middle Department (March 22, 1864-February 1,1865 and April 19-August 1, 1865); and also commanding the department (March 22, 1864-February 1,1865 and April 19-June 27, 1865).
His career got off to a promising start when he routed an inferior Confederate force at Romney, Virginia. Promoted to brigadier general, he was given charge of a newly organized division in the midst of the operations against Fort Donelson and was soon rewarded with a second star. However, that spring his reputation plummeted after the battle of Shiloh. On the first day his division was stationed north of the main army at Crump's Landing, and a series of contradictory orders from Grant forced him to countermarch his command and delayed his arrival on the main battlefield until the fighting was nearly over. He redeemed himself on the second day, but a scapegoat was needed for the near disaster the day before and this was Wallace. Sent home to await further orders, he offered his services to Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton and, despite his high rank, took temporary command of a regiment during the emergency posed by Kirby Smith's invasion of Kentucky. With Cincinnati threatened, Wallace was placed in charge of a mostly civilian defense force. Through a show of tremendous energy he was able to save the city without a major fight. He was then head of the commission which examined Buell's handling of the invasion and other boards until placed in charge in Maryland in early 1864. There he bought valuable time for the defenders of Washington during Early's drive into the state when he made a stand at Monocacy with an inferior scratch force.
At the close of the war he sat on the court-martial which tried the Lincoln conspirators and presided over that which sent Andersonville chief Henry Wirz to the gallows. He then joined a movement to aid the Juarez forces against Maximilian in Mexico. He tried to raise money and troops and even accepted the title of major general from the Juarez group. On November 30, 1865, he resigned from the U.S. service, but his Mexican venture collapsed and he realized little of the money which he had hoped to gain from it. In later years he was governor of the New Mexico Territory and a diplomat to Turkey. As a prolific writer, who often drew upon his own experiences, he is best remembered for Ben Hur.- A Tale of the Cbrist, one of the most popular novels of the nineteenth century ...more

Combine Editions
Lew Wallace’s books

Average rating: 4.03 · 38,745 ratings · 1,694 reviews · 385 distinct works • Similar authors

	Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ 4.03 avg rating — 37,917 ratings — published 1880 — 2392 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace, Steven Hines (Editor) 3.89 avg rating — 127 ratings — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Prince of India or Why Constantinople Fell, Volume 1 3.89 avg rating — 54 ratings — published 1893 — 144 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fair God 3.78 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 1873 — 196 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ben-Hur really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 28 ratings — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Prince of India or Why Constantinople Fell (Volume 1 & 2) 3.80 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 1957 — 74 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Prince of India or Why Constantinople Fell, Volume 2 4.15 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2013 — 97 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lew Wallace: The Complete Novels (The Greatest Writers of All Time Book 25) 3.90 avg rating — 10 ratings — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ben-Hur A Tale of the Christ, Complete and Unabridged 3.78 avg rating — 9 ratings — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Smoke, Sound & Fury: The Civil War Memoirs of Major-General Lew Wallace, U.S. Volunteers really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 1998 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Lew Wallace…

Quotes by Lew Wallace (?)

“Knowledge leaves no room for chances.”
― Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

tags: chance, ignorance, knowledge, luck, preparation, prepare

13 likes

“Heaven may be won, not by the sword, not by human wisdom, but by Faith, Love, and Good Works.”
― Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

6 likes

“A word as to the pleasure there is in the thought of a Soul in each of us. In the first place, it robs death of its terrors by making dying a change for the better, and burial but the planting of a seed from which there will spring a new life.”
― Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

6 likes

See all Lew Wallace's quotes »

Polls

June 2019 Revisit the Shelf

The Princess Bride by William Goldman, 1973, 398 pages, Group read: 2015

62 votes, 20.7%

Middlemarch by George Eliot, 1871, 904 pages, Group read: 2016

58 votes, 19.4%

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, 1929, 326 pages, Group read: 2011

57 votes, 19.1%

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, 1962, 192 pages, Group read: 2012, 2014

51 votes, 17.1%

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, 1814, 507 pages, Group read: 2012

47 votes, 15.7%

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace, 1880, 620 pages, Group read: 2012

24 votes, 8.0%

299 total votes

8 comments

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
2026 Reading Chal...: Linda M's 175 books-2017	12	192	Jan 01, 2017 09:57AM
Catholic Thought: February 2017 Book Nominations	25	34	Jan 19, 2017 06:58PM
Lincoln Parish Li...: April 2017: Holiday Reading	5	9	Apr 28, 2017 01:22PM
A Million More Pages: Audio book Monthly Listening Challenge April	23	52	May 08, 2017 07:36AM
The Perks Of Bein...: Team Buttercup	293	412	May 15, 2017 11:14PM
A Million More Pages: Bird is the Word	73	97	Jun 18, 2017 07:51AM
Sir Walter Scott ...: Rosemarie's Silver Ten	27	14	Nov 26, 2017 12:28PM
2026 Reading Chal...: Agnieszka's Challenge Collection 2018	35	157	Dec 03, 2017 04:38AM

More…

Lew Wallace’s Followers (67)

Lew Wallace

Combine EditionsLew Wallace’s books

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Lew Wallace’s books