Lewis Wallace

Ben-hur: a Tale of the Christ Lewis Wallace

Lewis "Lew" Wallace (1827-1905) 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. He was born in Brookville, Indiana, to David and Esther French Test Wallace. His father served as lieutenant governor and Indiana Governor. In 1836, at the age of nine, he joined his brother in Crawfordsville, Indiana where he briefly attended Wabash Preparatory School. Afterwards he joined his father in Indianapolis. Wallace served in the Mexican War in 1846 as a first lieutenant with the 1st Indiana Infantry regiment. He was admitted to the bar in 1849. In 1851 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the First Congressional District. At the start of the Civil War, He was appointed state adjutant general and helped raise troops in Indiana. On April 25, 1861, he was appointed Colonel of the 11th Indiana Infantry. After brief service in western Virginia, he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on September 3 and given the command of a brigade. His other works include: Commodus (1877), The Boyhood of Christ (1888), and The Prince of India (1893).