Until recently, I didn’t know that Ben-Hur was a novel written by Lew Wallace, a former Governor of New Mexico and Major General. Instead, I just assumed the famous 1959 film, starring Charlton Heston, was just an original screenplay suited to the epic film genre that was popular at the time. It was only whilst reading a book on Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett, the sheriff responsible for the outlaw’s death, that I came across Lew Wallace. After doing further research, I found that Wallace had had an interesting and varied life. Hopefully this post will go some way towards demonstrating that.
Lewis, known as Lew, Wallace was born in Louisiana on 10 April 1927. He father, David Wallace, was a politician and Governor, something which he would pass onto Lewis. However, the pair disagreed a lot as Lew didn’t do well in school. He was more bothered about art and books than his school work, much to the annoyance of his father. At the age of 16, he was thrown out of the family home so he could start earning a living, with the hope this would cure him of his so-called delinquent ways.[1] In some ways it did a little. He went on to become a lawyer, but only to satisfy his father. He still loved his books and carried on reading whenever he had the opportunity, even if it meant reading till very late at night.
Wallace took any opportunity he could to get away from his law practice by becoming a soldier. First in the American-Mexico war of 1846-1848 when he joined the Indiana regiment before joining the American Civil war, where he was first a general, then later a major general. At the Battle of Shiloah in April 1862, he was used as a scapegoat for the Union’s near defeat. He had been ordered to bring his division as reinforcements, but took the wrong route and didn’t get there until the second day of fighting.[2] Sadly, this was something he had to deal with for the rest of his life as people never let him forget and heaped the blame on him. The American Civil War was not the last time he attempted to join the army. In 1898, at the age of seventy one, he tried to join up again so he could fight in the Spanish-American War.[3] His efforts were politely declined.
In September 1878, Lew Wallace was brought in as the Governor of New Mexico in an attempt to create peace following the Lincoln County War, a conflict between two rival factions within the Lincoln County part of New Mexico. As Wallace had previously been one of the members of a military commission that tried the conspirators behind the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, it was thought he would do a good job.[4] There is no denying that Lew did his very best to create peace, but it was a very difficult job with so many outlaws causing havoc throughout the territory. The most notable being Billy the Kid.
The Kid and Wallace met in Spring 1879 when Wallace offered him a pardon in exchange for his witness testimony in a high profile murder case. However, no pardon was ever given, despite Billy writing to Wallace numerous times to remind him of the promise. There were never any replied to these letters, but from Billy’s continued criminal behaviour and the many death threats he made against Wallace, it’s clear why the promise was never fulfilled. Many local newspapers reported on this situation, especially after Pat Garrett arrested Billy in December 1880, who still wanted a pardon. In response, one newspaper directly asked Wallace about it. He said “I can’t see why a fellow like him should expect any clemency from me”.[5] Billy certainly didn’t get it and in April 1881, Wallace signed the death warrant as ordered by the courts, with an execution date set for 13 May. The execution never happened as Billy escaped from jail and was later shot by Garrett on 14 July. Wallace had offered a $500 reward for anyone who recaptured the Kid, but by the time Garrett claimed the reward money, Wallace was no longer the Governor, meaning it took longer to be paid.
The connections to Billy the Kid could easily have become one of the only parts of Lew Wallace’s life that made him an interesting man. However, it was really his writing of the historical novel Ben-Hur, that would become his lasting legacy, even if we now remember it more from the Charlton Heston film, rather than the book itself. When it was published in November 1880, it was an almost instant success. By December, its first print run was completely sold out.[6] By 1900, the novel had been through thirty six English editions and twenty other language editions.[7] Ben-Hur has been described as the “most influential Christian book written in the nineteenth century”, as it outsold every other book in America, except the Bible, until Gone with the Wind was published in 1936.[8]
In later life, people of his hometown of Crawfordsville in Louisiana recalled a rather odd old man. They remembered him more of a solider than a writer as he was known to wear his military uniform around town.[9] To many he seemed aloof but those who were close to him, he was thought of as gracious and hospitable.[10] What many did remember though was the beech tree, later known as the Ben-Hur tree, on his land where he was often seen writing under.[11]
There aren’t enough words or time to go into all the details of the life of Lew Wallace, but I hope that this goes some way to show the ‘highlights’ of what was a varied and interesting life. He may be not so well known now, but in his own time, he was one of America’s best-known celebrities. With connections to one of the most infamous outlaws of the Wild West and one of the most famous stories (and later film) of all time, the legacy of Wallace is still around, just as long as you know where to look.
[1] Lifson, Amy, ‘Ben-Hur: The Book that Shook the World’, Humanities, 30.6 (2009), https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2009/novemberdecember/feature/ben-hur-the-book-shook-the-world
[2] Gardner, Mark Lee, To Hell on A Fast Horse: The Untold Story of Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett (New York: Harper Collins, 2010), p. 153
[3] McGrath, Nick, ‘Major General Lewis “Lew” Wallace’, On Point, 19.4 (2014), p. 18
[4] Gardner, Mark Lee, To Hell on A Fast Horse, p. 87
[5] Ibid, p. 23
[6] Ibid, p. 154
[7] Lifson, Amy, ‘Ben-Hur: The Book that Shook the World’, https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2009/novemberdecember/feature/ben-hur-the-book-shook-the-world
[8] Ibid
[9] Forbes, John D., ‘Lew Wallace, Romantic’, Indiana Magazine of History, 44.4 (1948), p. 386
[10] Ibid, p. 386
[11] McGrath, Nick, ‘Major General Lewis “Lew” Wallace’, p. 21
Voyager of History 
Wow what an interesting person. It’s kind of funny billy thought that promise would be kept when he still killing people. Great post! Loved reading about Wallace! 🖤
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