David served in the Indiana General Assembly and later as the state's lieutenant governor, and governor, and as a member of Congress. Military Academy in West Point, New York, left the military in 1822 and moved to Brookville, where he established a law practice and entered Indiana politics. He was the second of four sons born to Esther French Wallace (née Test) and David Wallace. Lewis 'Lew' Wallace was born on April 10, 1827, in Brookville, Indiana. Wallace retired to his home in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he continued to write until his death in 1905. minister to the Ottoman Empire (1881–1885). Wallace was appointed governor of the New Mexico Territory (1878–1881) and served as U.S.

Army in November 1865 and briefly served as a major general in the Mexican army, before returning to the United States. 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, who attained the rank of major general, participated in the Battle of Fort Donelson, the Battle of Shiloh, and the Battle of Monocacy. He was appointed Indiana's adjutant general and commanded the 11th Indiana Infantry Regiment. Wallace's military career included service in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. 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.' Where got Ben-Hur the large hand and mighty grip which helped him now so well? Where but from the oar with which so long he fought the sea? And what was this spring of the floor under his feet to the dizzy eccentric lurch with which in the old time the trembling ship yielded to the beat of staggering billows, drunk with their power? So he kept his place, and gave the four free rein, and called to them in soothing voice, trying merely to guide them round the dangerous turn and before the fever of the people began to abate, he had back the mastery.Lewis Wallace (April 10, 1827 – February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, and author from Indiana.

Past question, every experience is serviceable to us. What should such dainty natures do under such indignity but leap as from death? Forward they sprang as with one impulse, and forward leaped the car. No hand had ever been laid upon them except in love they had been nurtured ever so tenderly and as they grew, their confidence in man became a lesson to men beautiful to see.

Ben lew wallace