Editing Lew Wallace (section)

===The Kentucky Campaign and Defense of Cincinnati===
{{Main|Defense of Cincinnati}}
Following his loss of a field command, Wallace returned to Indiana and spent time at his retreat on the Kankakee River. It was there that he received a telegram from Governor Morton to take command of an Indiana regiment in the [[Department of the Ohio]] to help with the defense of Kentucky during [[Braxton Bragg]]'s incursion into [[Kentucky]] and to report to Louisville. Presenting himself with his new regiment to Brig. Gen. [[Jeremiah Boyle]]<ref>Boyle was then Military Governor Kentucky.</ref> in Louisville, Boyle was uncomfortable having a superior officer under his command. Boyle ordered Wallace to take his regiment to Lexington, take command of the hastily created [[Army of Kentucky]], and march to the relief of the men at Cumberland Gap. Wallace began a defensive plan that would place his army on the north side of the Kentucky River, about 15 miles from [[Boonesboro, Kentucky|Boonesboro]] to defend against the advance of Gen. [[Edmund Kirby Smith]]'s army from the direction of [[Cumberland Gap]]. He had all of the locks on the river in the area opened to flood the fords, confiscated every boat in the area and moved them to the north bank, and the position was secured by sheer limestone cliffs on his flanks. But Wallace was soon relieved of command by Maj. Gen. [[William "Bull" Nelson]], who took command of the Army of Kentucky on August 24 on orders from Wright. Nelson altered Wallace's defensive plan, and engaged Smith's [[Confederate Army of Kentucky]] at the [[Battle of Richmond]] on August 30, and was soundly defeated.

Wallace and his staff started a return to Cincinnati to await any orders. Maj. Gen. [[Horatio Wright]] sent a telegram ordering Wallace to return to Lexington to take command of what remained of the Army of Kentucky. Traveling by train from Cincinnati, Wallace received another telegram from Wright when he arrived at [[Paris, Kentucky]], ordering him to remain in Cincinnati. He immediately returned to Cincinnati and began vigorous efforts for the [[defense of Cincinnati]].

Upon his arrival in the city, Wallace immediately began organizing the defenses of Cincinnati, Ohio and the Kentucky cities of [[Covington, Kentucky|Covington]] and [[Newport, Kentucky|Newport]] south of Cincinnati. Wallace ordered martial law, set a strict curfew, closed all businesses, and began putting male citizens to work on rifle pits, felling trees for makeshift [[abatis]] and clear fields of fire, and improving the 1861 earthwork defenses. It was during this hasty defensive preparation that the [[Black Brigade of Cincinnati]] was formed, by Wallace's orders.

In response to calls from Ohio's Governor Tod, approximately 15,000 so-called "Squirrel Hunters"—untrained volunteers who carried outdated equipment—reported to Cincinnati. Additionally, newly-created regiments from Indiana and Ohio were rushed to Cincinnati; most had not completed their training.

Because the arriving regiments could not be ferried quickly enough across the Ohio River, Wallace ordered the construction of a pontoon bridge, which was constructed using coal barges in under 48 hours.

While at Lexington, Gen. Smith gave Brig. Gen. [[Henry Heth]] permission to make a "demonstration" on Cincinnati, granting him approximately 8,000 men. Heth moved within a few miles of Fort Mitchell and exchanged skirmish fire with men from the [[101st Ohio Infantry]], [[103rd Ohio Infantry]], and [[104th Ohio Infantry]] on September 10–11, then returned to Lexington on September 12, 1862.

Wallace's leadership during the defense of Cincinnati earned him the nickname by local newspapers as the "Savior of Cincinnati". On September 12, Wallace telegraphed Wright from Cincinnati: "The skedaddle is complete; every sign of a rout. If you say so I will organize a column of 20,000 men to pursue to-night." Instead, Wright relieved Wallace of a field command.