with headquarters at Baltimore. By delaying the Confederate general J. A. Early at Monocacy (July 9, 1864) he saved Washington from almost certain capture. General Wallace served as president of the court of inquiry (November 1862) which investigated the conduct of General D. C. Buell, and of the court which in 1865 tried and condemned Henry Wirz, commander of the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Ga. He was also a member of the court which tried the alleged conspirators against President Lincoln. He resigned from the army in 1865 to return to the bar. He served as governor of New Mexico Territory (1878–1881) and as minister to Turkey (1881–1885). Though exceedingly popular as a lecturer, his literary reputation rests upon three historical romances: The Fair God (1873), a story of the conquest of Mexico; Ben Hur (1880), a tale of the coming of Christ, which was translated into several languages and dramatized; and The Prince of India (1893), dealing with the Wandering Jew and the Byzantine empire.
WALLACE, SIR RICHARD, Bart. (1818–1890), English art collector and philanthropist, was born in London on the 26th of July 1818. According to Sir Walter Armstrong (see Dict. of National Biography, art. “Wallace”), he was a natural son of Maria, marchioness of Hertford (wife of the third marquess), under whose auspices the boy was educated, mainly at Paris; but it was generally supposed in his lifetime that he was a son of the fourth marquess (his elder by only eighteen years), and therefore her grandson. At Paris he was well known in society, and became an assiduous collector of all sorts of valuable objets d'art, but in 1857 these were sold and Wallace devoted himself to assisting the fourth marquess, who left London to reside entirely in Paris, to acquire a magnificent collection of the finest examples of painting, armour, furniture and bric-à-brac. In 1870 the marquess of Hertford died unmarried, bequeathing to Wallace an enormous property, including Hertford House and its contents, the house in Paris, and large Irish estates. Pending the reopening of Hertford House, which had been shut up since the marquess had gone to live in Paris, Wallace sent some of the finest of his pictures and other treasures to the Bethnal Green Museum for exhibition; they were then transferred to Hertford House, which had been largely transformed in order to receive them. In 1871 he was created a baronet for his services during the siege of Paris, when he equipped several ambulances, founded the Hertford British hospital, and spent money lavishly in relief. This munificence endeared Sir Richard Wallace to the French people. From 1873 to 1885 he had a seat in parliament for Lisburn, but he lived mostly in Paris, where, in the Rue Laffitte and in his villa in the Bois de Boulogne, he dwelt among art treasures not inferior to those at Hertford House. In 1878 he was made one of the British commissioners at the Paris Exhibition, and he was also a trustee of the National Gallery and a governor of the National Gallery of Ireland. He died in Paris on the 20th of July 1890. He had married in 1871 the daughter of a French officer, by whom he had a son, who, however, died in 1887; and Lady Wallace, who died in 1897, bequeathed his great art collection to the British nation. It is now housed in Hertford House, Manchester Square, which was acquired and adapted by the government for the purpose.
WALLACE, SIR WILLIAM (c. 1270–1305), the popular national hero of Scotland, is believed to have been the second son of Sir Malcolm Wallace of Elderslie and Auchinbothie, in Renfrewshire. The date of his birth is not certainly ascertained, but is usually given as 1270. The only authority for the events of his early life is the metrical history of Blind Harry. That authority cannot be implicitly relied on, though we need not conclude that the minstrel invented the stories he relates. He lived about two centuries later than Wallace, during which a considerable body of legend had probably gathered round the name, and these popular “gestis” he incorporates in his narrative. At the same time he professes to follow as his “autour” an account that had been written in Latin by John Blair, the personal friend and chaplain of Wallace himself. As Blair's account has perished, we cannot tell how far the minstrel has faithfully followed his authority, but some comparatively recent discoveries have confirmed the truth of portions of the narrative which had previously been doubted. At best, however, his authority must be regarded with suspicion, except when it is confirmed by other and more trustworthy evidence.
Only for a period of less than two years in his life—from the beginning of the insurrection in 1297 to the battle of Falkirk—does Wallace come before us in the clearest historical light. With the exception of one or two glimpses of him that we obtain from authentic historical documents, the recorded events of his later as of his earlier life rest on no more certain authority than that of Blind Harry.
In his boyhood, according to the usual accounts, he resided for some time at Dunipace, in Stirlingshire, with an uncle, who is styled “parson” of the place. By this uncle he was partially educated, and from him he imbibed an enthusiastic love of liberty. His education was continued at Dundee, where he made the acquaintance of John Blair. On account of an incident that happened at Dundee—his slaughter of a young Englishman named Selby, for an insult offered to him—he is said to have been outlawed, and so driven into rebellion against the English. Betaking himself to the wilds of the country, he gradually gathered round him a body of desperate men whom he led in various attacks upon the English. In consequence of the success of these early enterprises his following largely increased, several of the more patriotic nobles—including the steward of Scotland, Sir Andrew Moray, Sir John de Graham, Douglas the Hardy, Wishart, bishop of Glasgow, and others—having joined him. His insurrection now became more open and pronounced, and his enterprises of greater importance. An attack was made upon the English justiciar, Ormsby, who was holding his court at Scone. The justiciar himself escaped, but many of his followers were captured or slain. The burning of the Barns of Ayr, the quarters of English soldiers, in revenge for the treacherous slaughter of his uncle, Sir Ronald Crawford, and other Scottish noblemen, followed. The success of these exploits induced the English king to take measures for staying the insurrection. A large army, under the command of Sir Henry Percy and Sir Robert Clifford, was sent against the insurgents, and came up with them at Irvine. Dissensions broke out among the Scottish leaders, and all Wallace's titled friends left him and made submission to Edward, except the ever faithful Sir Andrew Moray. The treaty of Irvine, by which these Scottish nobles agreed to acknowledge Edward as their sovereign lord, is printed in Rymer's Foedera. It is dated the 9th of July 1297, and is the first public document in which the name of Sir William Wallace occurs. Wallace retired to the north, and although deserted by the barons was soon at the head of a large army. The vigour and success of his operations was such that in a short time he succeeded in recovering almost all the fortresses held by the English to the north of the Forth. He had begun the siege of Dundee when he received information that an English army, led by the earl of Surrey and Cressingham the treasurer, was on its march northward. Leaving the citizens of Dundee to continue the siege of the castle, he made a rapid march to Stirling. Encamping in the neighbourhood of the Abbey Craig—on which now stands the national monument to his memory—he watched the passage of the Forth. After an unsuccessful attempt to bring Wallace to terms, the English commander, on the morning of the 11th of September 1297, began to cross the bridge. When about one half of his army had crossed, and while they were still in disorder, they were attacked with such fury by Wallace, that almost all—Cressingham among the number—were slain, or driven into the river and drowned. Those on the south side of the river were seized with panic and fled tumultuously, having first set fire to the bridge. The Scots, however, crossed by a ford, and continued the pursuit of the enemy as far as Berwick. Sir Andrew Moray fell in this battle. The results of it were important. The English were everywhere driven from Scotland. To increase the alarm of the English, as well as to relieve the famine which then prevailed, Wallace organized a great raid into the north of England, in the course of which he devastated the country to the gates of Newcastle. On his return he was elected
