Author: Wallace, J.
Biography:
WALLACE, James (c. 1795-1857: Army List)
James Wallace, “Late of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment of Foot,” author of The Wanderer, and Other Poems (1824), was the “James Wallace, gentleman” who was gazetted ensign by purchase in the 25th regiment of foot, 26 Sep. 1812. On 14 Apr. 1814, he was gazetted at the same rank in the 27th, the Enniskillen Regiment of Foot. He held that minor commission until 12 June 1823 when he was placed on half-pay as a cornet in the 22nd Light Dragoons. A reference in one of his poems suggests he may have served under Wellington in the Peninsular War; no known evidence places him at Waterloo. A reviewer in the Literary Magnet (who mistakenly identifies him as “Captain Wallace”) gave him mixed encouragement: he is one “of those aspirants who rise somewhat above mediocrity, and are scrambling for a niche in the temple of fame;” he has “an original and poetical mind;” and his poetry, though it resembles the early Lord Byron, “is by no means an [imitation].” He died, probably in London, on 17 Mar. 1857. (London Gazette 1938 [19 Apr. 1814], 838; London Gazette 17933 [21 June 1823], 1013; Literary Magnet 2:10 [Sept. 1824], 143; A List of the Officers of the Army [1846], 433; The Army List [May 1857], 204) JC