Civil War era CDV Union General Lew Wallace, Ben Hur & Billy the Kid

  
Lewis "Lew" Wallace (April 10, 1827 February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of the New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Wallace is best known for his historical adventure story, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880), a bestselling novel that has been called the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century. Wallace's military career included service in the MexicanAmerican War and the American Civil War. He was appointed Indiana's adjutant general and commanded the 11th Indiana Infantry Regiment. Wallace, who attained the rank of major general, participated in the Battle of Fort Donelson, the Battle of Shiloh, and the Battle of Monocacy. He also served on the military commission for the trials of the Lincoln assassination conspirators, and presided over the trial of Henry Wirz, the Confederate commandant of the Andersonville prison camp. Wallace resigned from the U. Army in November 1865 and briefly served as a major general in the Mexican army, before returning to the United States. Wallace was appointed governor of the New Mexico Territory (187881) and served as U. Minister to the Ottoman Empire (188185). Wallace retired to his home in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he continued to write until his death in 1905. Wallace, a staunch, pro-Union supporter who became a member of the Republican party, [27] began his full-time military career after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861. Indiana's Republican governor, Oliver P.

Morton, asked Wallace to help recruit Indiana volunteers for the Union army. [32] Wallace, who also sought a military command, agreed to become the state's adjutant general on the condition that he would be given command of a regiment of his choice.

[33][34] Indiana's quota of six regimental units was filled within a week, [35] and Wallace took command of the 11th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which was mustered into the Union army on April 25, 1861. Wallace received his formal commission as a colonel in the Union army the following day. On June 5, 1861, Wallace went with the 11th Indiana to Cumberland, Maryland, and on June 12, the regiment won a minor battle at Romney, Virginia, (in present-day West Virginia).

[28][37][33] The rout boosted morale for Union troops and led to the Confederate evacuation of Harpers Ferry on June 18. [38] On September 3, 1861, Wallace was promoted to brigadier general of U. Army volunteers and given command of a brigade. On February 4 and 5, 1862, prior to the advance against Fort Henry, Union troops under the command of Brig. Grant and a flotilla of Union ironclads and timberclad gunboats under the command of Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote made their way toward the Confederate fort along the Tennessee River in western Tennessee. Wallace's brigade, which was attached to Brig. Smith's division, was ordered to occupy Fort Heiman, an uncompleted Confederate fort across the river from Fort Henry. Wallace's troops secured the deserted fort and watched the Union attack on Fort Henry from their hilltop position.

On February 6, after more than an hour of bombardment from the Union gunboats, Confederate Brig. Lloyd Tilghman, surrendered Fort Henry to Grant.

Map showing Wallace's counterattack at Fort Donelson (1862). Halleck, was concerned that Confederate reinforcements would try to retake the two forts when the Union troops moved overland toward Fort Donelson, so Wallace was left in command at Fort Henry to keep the forts secure. [40][41] Displeased to have been left behind, [33] Wallace prepared his troops to move out at a moment's notice.

The order came at midnight on February 13. Wallace arrived along the Cumberland River the following day and was placed in charge of the 3rd Division. Many of the men in the division were untested reinforcements.

[42] Wallace's three brigades took up position in the center of the Union line, facing Fort Donelson. During the fierce Confederate assault on February 15, and in Grant's absence from the battlefield, Wallace acted on his own initiative to send Cruft's brigade to reinforce the beleaguered division of Brig.

McClernand, despite orders from Grant to hold his position and prevent the enemy from escaping and without Grant's authority to take the offensive. [43][44] With the Confederates continuing to advance, Wallace led a second brigade to the right and engaged the Confederates with infantry and artillery.

Wallace's decision stopped their forward movement and was key in stabilizing a defensive line for the Union troops. After the Confederate assault had been checked, Wallace led a counterattack that regained the lost ground on the Union right.

[45] On March 21, 1862, Wallace, McClernand, and C. Smith were promoted to major general for their efforts.

[46] Wallace, who was age thirty-four at the time of his promotion, became the youngest major general in the Union army. Wallace's most controversial command came at the battle of Shiloh, where he continued as the 3rd Division commander under Maj.

The long-standing controversy developed around the contents of Wallace's written orders on April 6, the 3rd Division's movements on the first day of battle, and their late arrival on the field. [48] On the second day of battle, Wallace's division joined reinforcements from Maj. Don Carlos Buell's army to play an important role in the Union victory. Prior to the battle, Wallace's division had been left in reserve and was encamped near Crump's Landing. Their orders were to guard the Unions right flank and cover the road to Bethel Station, Tennessee, where railroad lines led to Corinth, Mississippi, 20 miles (32 km) to the south. [50] To protect the road from Crump's Landing and Bethel Station, Wallace sent Col. Thayer's 2nd Brigade to Stoney Lonesome, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Crump's Landing, and the 3rd Brigade, commanded by Col.

Charles Whittlesey to Adamsville, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west of Crump's Landing. Smith's 1st Brigade remained with Wallace at Crump's Landing, 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. Between 5 and 6 a. On April 6, 1862, Grant's army at Pittsburg Landing was surprised and nearly routed by a sudden attack from the Confederate army under Gen. Grant, who heard the early morning artillery fire, took a steamboat from his headquarters at Savannah, Tennessee, to Crump's Landing, where he gave Wallace orders to wait in reserve and be ready to move.

Grant proceeded to Pittsburg Landing, where he arrived around 8:30 a. [52] Grant's new orders to Wallace, which arrived between 11 and 11:30 a. Were given verbally to an aide, who transcribed them before they were delivered. [53] The written orders were lost during the battle, so their exact wording cannot be confirmed; however, eyewitness accounts agree that Grant ordered Wallace to join the right side of the Union army, presumably in support of Brig. William Tecumseh Sherman's 5th Division, who were encamped near Shiloh Church on the morning of April 6.

Knowledge of the area's roads played a critical role in Wallace's journey to the battlefield on April 6. In late March, after heavy rains made transportation difficult between Crump's Landing and Pittsburg Landing, Wallace's men had opened a route to Pittsburg Landing along Shunpike road, which connected to a road near Sherman's camp. Wallace's men at Pittsburg Landing opened the River Road (also known as the Hamburg-Savannah Road), a route farther east. Of the two main routes that Wallace could use to move his men to the front, he chose the Shunpike road, the more direct route to reach Sherman's division near Shiloh Church.

[56] The day before the battle, Wallace wrote a letter to a fellow officer, W. Wallace, stating his intention to do so. [57] Lew Wallace and his staff maintained after the battle that Grant's order did not specify Pittsburg Landing as their destination or indicated a specific route. However, Grant claimed in his memoirs that he had ordered Wallace to take the route nearest to the river to reach Pittsburg Landing. [58][59] Historians are divided, with some stating that Wallace's explanation is the most logical. After a second messenger from Grant arrived around noon with word to move out, Wallace's division of approximately 5,800 men began their march toward the battlefield. [60] Between 2 and 2:30 p. A third messenger from Grant found Wallace along the Shunpike road, where he informed Wallace that Sherman had been forced back from Shiloh Church and was fighting closer to the river, near Pittsburg Landing. [61] The Union army had been pushed back so far that Wallace was to the rear of the advancing Southern troops. Wallace considered attacking the Confederates, but abandoned the idea. Instead he made a controversial decision to countermarch his troops along the Shunpike road, follow a crossroads to the River Road, and then move south to Pittsburg Landing. Progress was slow due to the road conditions and countermarch.

Wallace's division arrived at Pittsburg Landing about 6:30 p. After having marched about 14 miles (23 km) in nearly seven hours over roads that had been left in terrible conditions by recent rainstorms and previous Union marches. They gathered at the battlefield at dusk, about 7 p. With the fighting nearly over for the day, and took up a position on the right of the Union line.

Map of the Battle of Shiloh, April 7, 1862. The next day, April 7, Wallace's division held the extreme right of the Union line.

Two of Wallace's batteries with the aid of a battery from the 1st Illinois Light Artillery were the first to attack at about 5:30 a. [64][65] Sherman's and Wallace's troops helped force the Confederates to fall back, and by 3 p.

The Confederates were retreating southwest, toward Corinth. Wallace's most notable service came on Saturday, July 9, 1864 at the Battle of Monocacy part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864.

Although Confederate General Jubal A. Early and an estimated 15,000 troops defeated Wallace's troops at Monocacy Junction, Maryland, forcing them to retreat to Baltimore, the effort cost Early a chance to capture Washington, D. [81] Wallace's men were able to delay the Confederate advance toward Washington for an entire day, giving the city time to organize its defenses. Early arrived in Washington at around noon on July 11, two days after defeating Wallace at Monocacy, the northernmost Confederate victory of the war, [82] but Union reinforcements had already arrived at Fort Stevens to repel the Confederates and force their retreat to Virginia.

[84] On July 9, a combined Union force of approximately 5,800 men under Wallace's command (mostly hundred-days' men from VIII Corps) and a division under James B. Ricketts from VI Corps encountered Confederate troops at Monocacy Junction between 9 and 10 a. [85] Although Wallace was uncertain whether Baltimore or Washington, D. Was the Confederate objective, he knew his troops would have to delay the advance until Union reinforcements arrived. [86] Wallace's men repelled the Confederate attacks for more than six hours before retreating to Baltimore.

After the battle Wallace informed Halleck that his forces fought until 5 p. But the Confederate troops, which he estimated at 20,000 men, had overwhelmed them. When Grant learned of the defeat, he named Maj.

Ord as Wallace's replacement in command of VIII Corps. On July 28, after officials learned how Wallace's efforts at Monocacy helped save Washington D.

From capture, he was reinstated as commander of VIII Corps. [89] In Grant's memoirs, he praised Wallace's delaying tactics at Monocacy. If Early had been but one day earlier, he might have entered the capital before the arrival of the reinforcements I had sent. 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. The item "Civil War era CDV Union General Lew Wallace, Ben Hur & Billy the Kid" is in sale since Friday, December 08, 2017.

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