Jubal Anderson Early was born on November 3, 1816, in Franklin County, Virginia. He graduated from West Point in 1837 and served for a time in the Seminole War before resigning. He worked as a lawyer in Rocky Mount, Virginia, for twenty-three years, during which he returned for service in the Mexican War.

Like many other Confederate generals, Early opposed secession, but sided with his state when war broke out. He was first made a colonel, but rose to the rank of major general. He led troops at the first and second battles of Manassas, Sharpsburg (Antietam), Fredericksburg, the Chancellorsville Campaign, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania.

After the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse, Early went to Mexico and then to Canada. He eventually settled in Lynchburg, Virginia to practice law. He died on March 2, 1894, at the age of seventy-seven.

Lew Wallace was born on April 10, 1827, in Brookville, Indiana. He studied law at his father's law office, but left to serve as a second lieutenant in the Mexican War. Afterwards, he returned to be admitted to the bar in 1849. He practiced law in Indianapolis, Covington, and won a seat in the State Senate in 1856.

During the Civil War, he rose from a colonel to a major general in the Union army. He led troops at several battles, including Fort Donelson and Shiloh. He served on the court-martial which tried the assassins of Abraham Lincoln, and presided over the military court which convicted the superintendent of Andersonville Prison of cruelty in allowing the death of Union prisoners.

Wallace returned to Crawfordsville in 1865 to practice law. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1870, but was appointed governor of the New Mexico Territory in 1878, by President Hayes. As governor for three years, he settled the then-raging Lincoln County cattle war. It was also during this time that he completed the novel Ben Hur.

From 1881 to 1885 he served as minister to Turkey. He died in Crawfordsville on February 15, 1905, at age seventy-seven.

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© Copyright 1995 The American Civil War Society

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