Through dramatic re-enactments and interviews with historians, the documentary LEW WALLACE: SHILOH SOLDIER, BEN-HUR BARD chronicles General Lewis “Lew” Wallace’s extraordinary life and career. Wallace played a leading role in America’s military, political, diplomatic, and literary affairs during the 19th century. The son of lawyer and Indiana governor David Wallace, Wallace followed in his father’s footsteps, passing the bar in 1849, and becoming an Indiana senate member in 1856. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Wallace became Adjutant General of Indiana but requested a field commission instead. After successfully fighting Confederate forces at Fort Donelson, Wallace became the youngest Major General in the Union Army. In April 1862, he led a command during the Battle of Shiloh — a Union victory, but one that would find Wallace embroiled in a controversy over his actions during battle that would haunt him for the remainder of his life. In September 1876, a chance encounter with controversial agnostic and orator Robert Ingersoll on a train ride led Wallace on a new path that changed his life forever: it inspired him to write the historical adventure Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ,one of the best-selling novels of the century. Ben-Hur has since been adapted for film three times.