General Lew WALLACE - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Gen. Wallace is now busy writing his autobiography, and he is convinced that this work will be one of the most interesting of his literary productions, says the Crawfordsville Journal. He will not incorporate in the work a single speech or letter, but for all that the work will be voluminous. Gen. Wallace has had a varied career. He was a prominent leader in the civil war and was conspicuous in the days of reconstruction. He was on the commission that tried Lincoln's assassins, and also the chief of the court martial that tried the keepers of Andersonville prison. He was some years in the diplomatic service and as minister to Turkey attained quite a unique distinction. He was governor of New Mexico in her wildest days, and had some interesting experiences with some of the roughest frontier characters. His literary life has brought him many experiences worth chronicling. He states that in this work he will deal particularly with famous men and women he has met.

The Milwaukee Sunday Telegraph of the 16th says: "Milwaukee has not for a number of years, perhaps never, turned out such an audience to a lecture, as was given to Gen Lew Wallace, at Immanuel Church Tuesday evening. The large church was filled by an attentive and interested audience. Gen Wallace's subject was 'Turkey and the Turks,' and he handled it in a masterly way, mostly from a personal standpoint. He understands his subject and the people well, and before he had finished speaking many had gained a higher idea of the Turks and their country."

Gen. Lew Wallace has the following to say in the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette concerning his literary work: "I am amusing myself with writing two books and two plays. I write awhile on one until I get tired and then I turn to the other. It would hardly be right to give you anything of the characters of the works. One of my books is a tale of the capture of Constantinople [Istanbul] by the Turks, and the other is wholly American. I may never finish either of them. One of my plays is an attempt at the classical, while the other is of America during the late war. I tell you I am having lots of fun in writing them, even if they should prove to be flat failures."

A valuable addition has been made to the many valuable keepsakes and relics in the Wallace museum, Noble Wallace, grandson of Lew Wallace has sent his equipment used in the service in France during the past year to the custodian of the Wallace estate, Mr. Walter E. Elliott, who has placed the things in the museum. The equipment consists of the coate, bearing the Red Cross, a helmet of thick steel, a hand sword and the canteen, and other things necessary for living. There is an extra helmet, apparently a German helmet of iron, several kinds of hand grenades and a number of the larger size shells used, together with machine gun cartridges. Several large French posters were also brought home. One of these shows work being done in the hospital work, another a soldier throwing grenades and a third, the French soldiers filling up the ranks, which have been depleted by German fire. Mr. Wallace took several pictures of the fighting line, himself. One of these on exhibit, shows him in his American Red Cross ambulance, another bringing a wounded French soldier in and a third a pile of used shells, after a bombardment. The pile is higher than a man's head and runs in a long line for many hundred yards. There have been hundreds at the Wallace museum in the last year. The last 9 months show 5,000. At one time, 485 went through the museum and registered.. Several governors, ex-governors and many senators congressmen and others have registered in the book at the museum. The place is kept in excellent condition and is shown and described graphically by Mr. Elliott, the custodian.

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File Created: 20 September 2010