A newspaper story about Captain Wilson DeWitt Wallace’s recruiting efforts in Montgomery County, Indiana. Nearly one-half of company C was recruited due to his hard work.Wallace served as a lieutenant and captain with the 40th Indiana Infantry. His service was ended when he was severely wounded in the right arm at at Stones River on January 2, 1863.
Source: Lafayette Journal and Courier Sun 5 Oct 1980 p. 40
“Interesting people fill Lafayette’ history and one of the more fascinating is 19th century lawyer W. DeWitt Wallace, a man forgotten today. The student of Lafayette history encounters Wallace many times through 40 years as a soldier, lawyer, speaker, public servant and author. He was born in 1838 to cabinetmaker James Wallace and his wife Sarah – and with few exceptions lived in Tippecanoe County his whole life. He attended the city’s “common schools’ and in the fall of 1855, entered Waveland Academy in Montgomery County. But his father couldn’t afford the tuition so DeWitt dropped out after a year. In the fall of 1856, he taught in a private school in Tippecanoe County saving enough of his pay to re enroll at Waveland in 1857.”
“Then in the fall of 1858 he enrolled as a sophomore at Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, being graduated in the spring of 1861. But that was the spring the Civil War broke out and Wallace left college to enlist for three months’ service in an Indiana regiment. When he came home to Lafayette, he learned his two brothers had signed up and that the region had filled its quote of volunteers. So young Wallace began studying law, as was the custom then, in the office of two established Lafayette law partners, Samuel Huff and Mark Jones.”
“The war dragged on. Eventually, Wallace enlisted probably in late summer 1861, as a private soldier in Company C of the 40th Regiment of Indiana volunteers. Finding that there were not more than 30 enlisted men in the company and that new recruits were attained with great difficulty he visited the vicinity of Waveland Academy and inaugurated a series of public meetings for the purpose of gaining volunteers for the service. His eloquent appeals to the patriotism of his former schoolmates and associates met with success. Within a few days … he succeeded in obtaining the necessary quota of volunteers. The members of Co C as was the custom in regiments of volunteers elected their officers and chose Wallace 2nd Lt.”
Thanks to K.Z. for bringing this article to my attention.
40th Indiana Infantry 