Leonidas Polk
Confederate Army general
Died when: 58 years 65 days (698 months)Star Sign: Aries
Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk (April 10, 1806 – June 14, 1864) was a bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana and founder of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America, which separated from the Episcopal Church of the United States of America.
He was a slaveholding planter in Maury County, Tennessee, and a second cousin of President James K.Polk.He resigned his ecclesiastical position to become a major-general in the Confederate States Army, when he was called "Sewanee's Fighting Bishop".
His official portrait at the University of the South depicts him dressed as a bishop with his army uniform hanging nearby.
He is often erroneously referred to as "Leonidas K.Polk," but he had no middle name and never signed any documents as such.
Polk was one of the more notable, yet controversial, political generals of the war.Recognizing his indispensable familiarity with the Mississippi Valley, Confederate president Jefferson Davis commissioned his elevation to a high military position regardless of his lack of prior combat experience.
He commanded troops in the Battle of Shiloh, the Battle of Perryville, the Battle of Stones River, the Tullahoma Campaign, the Battle of Chickamauga, the Chattanooga Campaign, and the Atlanta Campaign.
He is remembered for his bitter disagreements with his immediate superior, the likewise-controversial General Braxton Bragg of the Army of Tennessee, and for his general lack of success in combat.
While serving under the command of General Joseph E.Johnston, he was killed in action in 1864 during the Atlanta Campaign.
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Confederate Army general
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