| Related sites for http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWwallace.htm |
| Drug_loot_fuels_drug_war A series of articles on forfeiture by the Standard Times newspaper of SouthCoast, MA. Very balanced, providing views from both sides of this issue. (August 8, 1999) | | The_Sixth_Search Psychics give their impressions on the stories behind celebrity gossip and headline news. | | Jewish_Language_Research_Website Dedicated to the study and preservation of the various Jewish mixed languages, from Yiddish and Ladino through Judeo-Persian and Krimchak. | | Paicey,_John Contains information about the author, music links, friends and travels. | | Radio_Baghdad Protests the US invasion of Iraq. Includes audio files, articles, pictures, and related resources. | | SpecOps_Mottos A collection of mottos from Special Operations, Ranger and Airborne units. | | Heritage_Foundation__Budget Articles, studies, and other conservative analysis of U.S. federal budget and tax policy. | | Ronald_McDonald_House_Charities_of_Tampa_Bay Provides temporary lodging for pediatric families of hospitalized children. [Florida] | | Robert_Joseph_Long_versus_Bob_Dillinger The text of an opinion by the court upon hearing Long's petition for a writ of mandamus to require Bob Dillinger, the public defender for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, to relinquish possession and contr | | Fortunetelling_in_Korea_Inc_ Student article by Alexander Cho, considering the anomalous presence of shamanic beliefs in contemporary South Korea. | | Kenya_-_Nairobi Delegation of the European Commission in the Republic of Kenya, listing EU Agreements and cooperation with Kenya. | | Halloween_--_History_and_Traditions_of_the_Holiday The history of Halloween and its customs starting with Celtic Ireland in 5 B.C. | | Inner_Expansion_Workshop Offers books, guides and various online ecourses on spiritualism. | | Perceptual_Motion Producing forensic animations to illustrate the findings and testimony of expert witnesses. | | CompleteInHim Mammy's web site filled with devotions, prayers, promises, testimonies, books to read, favorite bible studies and pictures. | | Centre_Street_Church Calgary, Alberta. Welcome information, weekly bulletin and newsletters (PDF), ministry descriptions and schedules. | | Columbia_Maryland_YSA Announcements about local activities and institute classes. | | MetDESK__Your_Child_or_Other_Dependent_with_Special_Needs MetLife presents an overview of future planning for legal, financial, medical and educational needs. | | Sacagawea Biography of the Shoshone woman who helped Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition. | | Mountain_States_Chapter Denver, Colorado. Overview, membership information, newsletter, and contact details. For members in Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. |
|
Lewis Wallace
Lewis Wallace
Spartacus,
USA History,
British
History, Second
World War, First
World War, Germany,
Soviet Union,
Slavery, American Civil War, Civil
Rights Movement, Women's
Suffrage, Author,
Search Website,
Email
Lewis
Wallace was born in Brookville, Indiana, ion 10th April, 1827. He
worked as a newspaper reporter and lawyer before fighting in the Mexican
War (1846-47). He was active in local politics and served in the
Indiana legislature.
On the outbreak of the American Civil War
Wallace joined the Union Army. Promoted
to the rank of brigadier general in August, 1861, and major general
in March, 1862. He led his troops at Shiloh
and was afterwards a member of the commission that investigated General
Don Carlos Buell. and his campaign in
Tennessee and Kentucky.
Wallace was commander of the VIII Corps (March, 1864 - February, 1865)
but clashed with General Henry Halleck
and was twice removed from the post. The first time he was restored
on the orders of Abraham Lincoln and
the second by Ulysses S. Grant.
After the war Wallace served on the court-martial of Lincoln's assassins
and was president of the court-martial that convicted Henry
Wirz, the commander of Andersonville.
On 1st May, 1865, President Andrew Johnson
ordered the formation of a nine-man military commission to try the
conspirators involved in the assassination of President Abraham
Lincoln. It was argued by Edwin M. Stanton,
the Secretary of War, that the men should be tried by a military court
as Lincoln had been Commander in Chief of the army. Several members
of the cabinet, including Gideon Welles
(Secretary of the Navy), Edward Bates
(Attorney General), Orville H. Browning
(Secretary of the Interior), and Henry
McCulloch (Secretaery of the Treasury), disapproved, preferring
a civil trial. However, James Speed,
the Attorney General, agreed with Stanton and therefore the defendants
did not enjoy the advantages of a jury trial.
The trial began on 10th May, 1865. The military commission included
Wallace and other leading generals such as David
Hunter, Thomas Harris and Alvin
Howe. Joseph Holt was the government's
chief prosecutor. Mary Surratt, Lewis
Paine, George Atzerodt, David
Herold, Samuel Mudd, Michael
O'Laughlin, Edman Spangler and
Samuel Arnold were all charged with
conspiring to murder Lincoln. During the trial Holt attempted to persuade
the military commission that Jefferson Davis
and the Confederate government had been involved in conspiracy.
Joseph Holt attempted to obscure the fact
that there were two plots: the first to kidnap and the second to assassinate.
It was important for the prosecution not to reveal the existence of
a diary taken from the body of John Wilkes
Booth. The diary made it clear that the assassination plan dated
from 14th April. The defence surprisingly did not call for Booth's
diary to be produced in court.
On 29th June, 1865 Mary Surratt, Lewis
Paine, George Atzerodt, David
Herold, Samuel Mudd, Michael
O'Laughlin, Edman Spangler and
Samuel Arnold were found guilty of being
involved in the conspiracy to murder Abraham
Lincoln. Surratt, Paine, Atzerot and Herold were hanged at Washington
Penitentiary on 7th July, 1865. Surratt, who was expected to be reprieved,
was the first woman in American history to be executed.
The decision to hold a military court received further criticism when
John Surratt, who faced a civil trial
in 1867, was not convicted by the jury. Michael
O'Laughlin died in prison but Samuel Mudd,
Edman Spangler and Samuel
Arnold were all pardoned by President Andrew
Johnson in 1869.
After the war Wallace returned to Indiana to practice law and to write.
His book, The Fair God
(1873), told of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Wallace was appointed
governor of New Mexico in 1878. While in office he wrote and published
his best-selling book, Ben
Hur (1880).
Wallace, who served as Minister of Turkey (1881-85) also
published The Boyhood of
Christ (1888), The
Prince of India (1893) and The
Wooing of Malkatoon (1897). His memoirs, Lew
Wallace: An Autobiography, was published a year
after his death on 15th February, 1905, in Crawfordsville, Brookville.
(1)
The
correspondent of the New York World,
was highly critical of the military commission that tried Mary
Surratt, Lewis Paine, George
Atzerodt, David Herold, Samuel
Mudd, Michael O'Laughlin, Edman
Spangler and Samuel Arnold
(26th May, 1865)
The
commission has collectively an imposing appearance: the face of Judge
Holt is swarthy; he questions with slow utterance, holding the witness
in his cold, measuring eye. Hunter, who sits at the opposite end of
the table, shuts his eyes now and then, either to sleep or to think,
or both, and the other generals watch for the occasions to distinguish
themselves.
Excepting Judge Holt, the court has shown as little ability as could
be expected from soldiers, placed in unenviable publicity, and upon
a duty for which they are disqualified, both by education and acumen.
Witness the lack of dignity in Hunter, who opened the court by a course
allusion to "humbug chivalry", of Lewis Wallace, whose heat
and intolerance were appropriately urged in the most exceptional English;
of Howe, whose tirade against the rebel General Johnson was feeble
as it was ungenerous! This court was needed to show us at least the
petty tyranny of martial law and the pettiness of martial jurists.
The counsel for the defense have just enough show to make the unfairness
of the trial partake of hypocrisy.
Available from Amazon Books
(order below)
|
|
