Portal:American Civil War/Selected biography/48

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Lewis "Lew" Wallace (April 10, 1827 – February 15, 1905) was a lawyer, governor, soldier in the Mexican War, Union, general in the American Civil War, American statesman, and author, best remembered for his historical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. At the start of the Civil War, he saw brief service in western Virginia, and was promoted to brigadier general, and later promoted to major general to rank from March 21 for service at Fort Donelson. He actions at the Battle of Shiloh are debated to this day.

In 1864, Wallace's most crucial service came at the Battle of Monocacy. Although the force under his command was defeated by Confederate General Jubal A. Early, he was able to delay Early's advance toward Washington, D.C., to the point that the city defenses had time to organize and repel Early. General Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs assessed Wallace's delaying tactics at Monocacy, stating "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."

Wallace also participated in the military commission trial of the Lincoln assassination conspirators as well as the court-martial of Henry Wirz, commandant of the Andersonville prison camp. After the war, he served as governor of New Mexico Territory from 1878 to 1881, and as U.S. Minister to the Ottoman Empire from 1881 to 1885.