Major
General
Lewis Wallace
- Born: April 10, 1827
- Father later became the governor of Indiana.
- 1st Lieutenant of the 1st Indiana in the Mexican War, but never saw combat.
- 1849: Admitted to the bar association.
- 1856: Elected to the State Senate.
- Appointed State Adjutant General upon the bombardment of Fort Sumter.
- April 25, 1861: Became Colonel of the 11th Indiana.
- September 3, 1861: Became Brigadier General of Volunteers.
- March 21, 1862: Became Major General (after taking part in the capture of Fort Donelson).
- April, 1862. Participated in the battle of Shiloh
- March 1864. Assigned by President Abraham Lincoln to command the Middle Department and 8th Army Corps in Baltimore, Maryland.
- July 9, 1864. Commanded Union troops at the Battle of Monocacy. Known as the "battle that saved Washington," Wallace and his troops slowed Early's advance on the Capital, thus gaining time for Federal troops to reinforce the city defenses.
- 1865: Member of the military commission which tried Lincoln conspirators
- Later became president of the court martial which tried and condemned Henry Wirz (commandant at Andersonville).
- Wrote Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ
- Became U.S. minister to Turkey.
- Became governor of the New Mexico territory.
- Died: February 15, 1905. Buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
