The son of the governor of Indiana, Lew Wallace lived in Indianapolis as a young boy. He served in the Mexican War, and afterwards became a lawyer and was elected to the state Senate. He served again in the Union army during the Civil War, reaching the rank of major general. He was noted for repulsing an attempted raid by Confederate Gen. Jubal Early on Washington, DC, in 1864. After the Civil War, Wallace was appointed governor of New Mexico Territory and later minister to Turkey. He was a prolific author, although he is most famous for "Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ", which was turned into a play that was produced on Broadway and later filmed several times, the most famous one being Ben-Hur (1959)