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Ben-Hur and Lew Wallace: How the scapegoat of Shiloh became one of the best-selling novelists in American history. - Slate Magazine. (Hat tip, Virginia Kerr.)
Grant and Wallace rode out to inspect a fort on the left of the Union lines. Grant, a gifted horseman, admired Old John and proposed a race back to camp. Wallace assented, but reined his horse in as the race began. “Let him out!” barked Grant, seeing that he was being afforded a handicap. Wallace did as he was ordered, and though Grant was in a furious gallop, Old John easily sprinted ahead. After a mile or two, Grant called a halt—and offered to buy Old John on the spot. Wallace refused. “Neither love nor money,” he said, “can buy Old John.”
Thanks for pointing this one out. Crawfordsville was my Mother's home town, and at one time featured the Ben-Hur Motel. The more I've learned about Mr. Wallace, the more interested I've become. I've visited his Crawfordsville study (where he worked on Ben Hur) and while touring the Old Governor's Palace in Santa Fe, I stumbled on an exhibit honoring the General, in yet another room in which he worked on Ben Hur. His wife also wrote six books, and in some respects they were an early example of a literary power couple.
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