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Henry Hamilton Wallace

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Henry Hamilton Wallace

Birth	:	30 Sep 1839 Ireland
Death	:	18 Jan 1911 Iowa, USA
Burial	:	Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery, Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate	:	42.4716988, -92.3833008
Description	:	Married Rebecca Ellen Hunt on September 1, 1870, in Red Oak, Iowa. Parents of Mary Jane "Jennie" (married Isaac South 2/28/1912 in Adair Co., IA), William Henry, Charles Albert, Margaret Elizabeth, Frank Dillon, Clara May and Thomas Ross. GAR military marker CORP Company M 11 ILL. CAV. *Henry Hamilton Wallace, was one of the faceless, there are no known photos of him; illiterate, he signed his enlistment papers with an X; nearly nameless immigrants who volunteered to serve in the Union Army shortly after the American Civil War began. Until a few years ago he was virtually forgotten,... Read More	Married Rebecca Ellen Hunt on September 1, 1870, in Red Oak, Iowa. Parents of Mary Jane "Jennie" (married Isaac South 2/28/1912 in Adair Co., IA), William Henry, Charles Albert, Margaret Elizabeth, Frank Dillon, Clara May and Thomas Ross. GAR military marker CORP Company M 11 ILL. CAV. Henry Hamilton Wallace, was one of the faceless, there are no known photos of him; illiterate, he signed his enlistment papers with an X; nearly nameless immigrants who volunteered to serve in the Union Army shortly after the American Civil War began. Until a few years ago he was virtually forgotten, nothing known about him or his sacrificial service. His decedents emigrated from Scotland to Belfast, Northern Ireland where his father William became a block printer in the textile industry. William married Margaret "Jane" and after the births of William, Alexander and Henry the couple and their three young sons sailed in the 1840's for the United States, living first in Pennsylvania where family members were already settled. After the birth of a daughter and another son they moved to Northampton in the wilderness of central Illinois to farm, never imagining they would soon be sending three sons to war in their adopted land. In the fall of 1861, 21 year old Henry answered the call for volunteers to join the 11th Illinois Cavalry, Company M. After a few months of training the regiment was sent on riverboats steaming down the Mississippi River and then the Tennessee River as part of the army General U.S. Grant was gathering to invade the South at Corinth, Mississippi. On April 1st, 1862 his regiment disembarked the riverboats at a small outpost called Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee where about 35,000 Federal troops were spread out and encamped in the fields & dense woods. Most of the young men were like the 11th, green, untried troops…some didn't have weapons yet. One soldier encamped there with his regiment, wrote of the night of April the 5th, "…thousands that night, slept their last sleep on earth" because early the next morning the Western Confederate Army unexpectedly burst out of the forest and the two-day Battle of Shiloh, the costliest in American history up to that time, commenced. After several thousand casualties the Union did prevail on the second day but this first horrendous encounter with battle must have been profoundly shocking to the inexperienced cavalrymen from rural Illinois but they rode on, persevering through four long years of war. Most, including Henry, reenlisted after their first three-year commitment was up. The story of Henry's service in the 11th Illinois Cavalry, as the young men rode and fought up and down Tennessee & Mississippi, is primarily not one of great and glorious deeds. The action seen by Henry and his cavalry regiment, with a few notable exceptions like the battles of Shiloh and Parkers Crossroads, was the gritty, exhausting, long range, smaller battles and skirmishes that escape attention. Theirs was the dogged, determined, faithful commitment to preserving their country that won the war. Finally mustered out with his regiment in September of 1865 he moved with his family a few years later to Cass County, Iowa, married Rebecca, farmed, and raised seven children. As he got older he suffered debilitating leg ulcers and varicose veins from the long years of constant horseback riding, and injuries to his legs received when his horse reared and fell on him during an ambush at Clinton, Mississippi. In the winter of 1911 Henry fell ill with pneumonia, lingered at home for six days and died at 10pm on January the 18th. His grave in a small, quiet, country cemetery went unmarked for 93 years except for a small Grand Army of the Republic marker indicating the grave of a soldier of the Civil War… until Memorial Day weekend of 2004 when descendants from California flew to Iowa and joined around seventy local Wallace descendants in dedicating a tombstone for Henry and Rebecca. There had to be considerable volunteer, fighting spirit in the Wallace clan that features in a story told by Henry's youngest brother Thomas, a schoolboy during the war. He could write, so his father had him respond to letters from an uncle in Ireland who was so alarmed at what he was hearing about the Civil War that he begged the family to return to Ireland…he would even send the money for the tickets. His father instructed Thomas to tell the uncle that "all of us are in the fight to win. All of his boys are in the Army except the youngest and that Father and I intend to go next year in case the war is not finished by that time." That spirit has endured. Henry's grandson was a tail gunner on a B-24 bomber over Europe during the Second World War; a grandson served in Korea; two g-grandsons served in the Air Force, one of them for two years in Viet Nam; a g-g- grandson and g-g granddaughter have both served twice in the Middle East; and what would no doubt be unbelievable to the immigrant who signed his papers with an X, in 2009 another g-g- grandson, Forrest Wallace, graduated from the Military Academy at West Point and as an officer led a platoon in Afghanistan. In the words of one who actually knew Henry Wallace, John J. Perry, Captain of Company M, 11th Illinois Cavalry, wrote in the late 1800's about Henry in an affidavit when Henry applied for a pension. He said Henry Wallace "…was a good and efficient soldier, very active and always ready for duty…if there was any action on the advance, he was sure to be there, never shirking." And he ended with these words… "….he was one of the brave and gallant defenders of our Republic in every sense of the word. To whom this great nation owes a debt of gratitude….Yes….and more." Source: Judi Wallace Sinclair

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Henry Hamilton Wallace's memorial?
Henry Hamilton Wallace's memorial is located at: Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery, Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA.
When did Henry Hamilton Wallace death?
Henry Hamilton Wallace death on 18 Jan 1911 in Iowa, USA
Where are the coordinates of the Henry Hamilton Wallace's memorial?
Latitude: 42.4716988
Longitude: -92.3833008

Family Members:

Parent

William Wallace

(unknow - 1882)

Margaret “Jane” Ross Wallace

(unknow - 1869)

Spouse

Rebecca Ellen Hunt Wallace

(1852 - 1925)

Siblings

Pvt Alexander Wallace

(1838 - 1926)

Children

Mary Jane Wallace South

(1871 - 1947)

William Henry Wallace

(1872 - 1947)

Frank Dillon Wallace

(1876 - 1917)

Charles Albert Wallace

(1876 - 1927)

Clara Wallace Dwyer

(1883 - 1940)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4716988, -92.3833008

2. Mount Olivet Cemetery
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4594002, -92.3968964

3. Waterloo Cemetery
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4742012, -92.3582993

4. Elmwood Cemetery
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4916992, -92.3578033

5. Pet Haven Cemetery
Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4933187, -92.4118539

6. Calvary Cemetery
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4991989, -92.3660965

7. Fairview Cemetery
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.5107994, -92.3503036

8. Orange Township Cemetery
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4241982, -92.3657990

9. Saint Lukes Episcopal Church Columbarium
Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.5153600, -92.4307200

10. Black Hawk County Cemetery
Evansdale, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4430200, -92.2931700

11. Sons of Jacob Cemetery
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4839900, -92.2838040

12. Hillcrest Cemetery
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4839270, -92.2826670

13. Muslim Cemetery
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4838990, -92.2826380

14. Fairview Cemetery
Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.5261002, -92.4602966

15. Faithful Friends Pet Cemetery
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.5508220, -92.3409370

16. Garden Of Memories
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.5515310, -92.3378240

17. Greenwood Cemetery
Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.5404260, -92.4557550

18. Hudson Cemetery
Hudson, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.3999000, -92.4657200

19. Washburn Cemetery
Washburn, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4139200, -92.2711700

20. Hillside Cemetery
Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.5625000, -92.4452972

21. Cedar Valley Cemetery
Hudson, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4166444, -92.5057391

22. Mount Zion Cemetery
Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.5299988, -92.2589035

23. Mount Vernon Cemetery
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.5847015, -92.3806000

24. Zion Lutheran Cemetery
Hudson, Black Hawk County, USA
Coordinate: 42.4279100, -92.5292000