When Lew Wallace entered active military service in April of 1861, he became something of a media darling and early hero for the Union. Prior to leaving Indianapolis in late April with the 11th Indiana, Wallace had his men bow on bended knee at the Indiana Statehouse and pledge to “Remember Buena Vista.” This episode was captured by an illustrator for Harper’s Weekly, a national news magazine, and their illustration catapulted Wallace to fame. In June of 1861, his national reputation was secured after a skirmish in Romney, Virginia. Lincoln called the small battle a “splendid little dash on Romney” and Wallace’s successful rout of the Confederates placed the young commander in the public eye when both Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly and Harper’s Weekly published drawings. Wallace found the attention most gratifying.
Wallace was not the only hero of the Union army in April of 1861. Major Robert Anderson had defended but ultimately surrendered Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor in mid-April 1861. This was the catalyst for the beginning of the Civil War. After Fort Sumter fell to the Confederates, Anderson was widely praised in the North as a war hero and promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. Lincoln immediately gave Anderson command of the Union forces in Kentucky, a border state and, coincidently, Anderson’s birthplace.
By late May of 1861, Anderson was in Cincinnati on his way to Kentucky. At that same time, Lew Wallace and his 11th Indiana Volunteers were on their march east from Indianapolis toward Romney, Virginia. While the 11th Indiana was marching through Cincinnati, the regiment stopped in front of the hotel where Anderson was staying and gave Anderson “three cheers and a tiger!” In the 19th century, a “tiger” was sort of a growl that was given after three cheers.
Anderson only served in Kentucky for a short time, resigning his command in October of 1861. The reason most often cited is that his health was failing, but some researchers believe that Anderson did not wholly support Lincoln’s desire to arm Union supporters in Kentucky. He was later reposted to Rhode Island Anderson formally resigned from the Army in October of 1863, although he continued to serve in administrative positions until 1869. He famously returned to Charleston harbor to great acclaim and presided at the raising of the Union flag at Fort Sumter on April 14, 1865, just a few hours before the assassination of Lincoln.
Like many families during the Civil War, Robert Anderson’s had spilt allegiance. His brother, Charles, served as the governor of Ohio in 1865 and 1866, but another brother, William, was a Southern sympathizer. Late in the war, William Anderson went to Mexico and joined those who hoped to establish a Confederate colony there with the support of Emperor Maximilian. Lew Wallace was well aware of this effort to establish the colony and in early 1865 he was actually in Mexico on orders from General Grant. Wallace’s mission was to urge Confederate forces to rejoin the Union and to support the removal of Maximilian, who had been placed on the throne by the French Emperor Louis Napoleon III. Wallace was also there to encourage the restoration of Benito Juarez’s government. Research has not yet demonstrated whether or not Lew Wallace was aware of William Anderson’s activities in Mexico or whether the two men had direct contact.
Wallace’s recognition of Robert Anderson in May of 1861, when the great conflict was just beginning and when popular opinion was that the war would be short, demonstrated Wallace’s ability to quickly recognize and capitalize on opportunities when they arose. This brief episode shrewdly brought two Union heroes together for a few moments and surely raised public awareness. This episode must have also heightened the morale of the men in the 11th Indiana. As a reporter from Leslie’s noted after the “Romp to Romney” a few weeks later Wallace “is loved by his officers . . . and by his men to a point of devotion; and it is little to say that they would follow wherever he led, no matter what lay before them.”
Note: Robert Anderson came from an illustrious family. His father was an aide de camp to the Marquis de Lafayette during the Revolutionary War and his mother, Sarah Marshall, was a cousin to Chief Justice John Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court. Several of his brothers and his children served the United States in important ways. Robert was an 1825 graduate of the military academy at West Point. Lew Wallace’s father, David, was an 1821 graduate of the academy and remained for an additional year to teach mathematics. It is possible that David Wallace and Robert Anderson briefly knew each other.
Source: The Sword & the Pen: A Life of Lew Wallace by Ray E. Boomhower and thanks to Gail Stephens, author of Shadow of Shiloh.
