Leonidas Polk | |
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![]() Polk in uniform, c. 1862 | |
Nickname(s) | "Sewanee's Fighting Bishop", "Bishop Polk" |
Born | Raleigh, North Carolina, US | April 10, 1806
Died | June 14, 1864 Cobb County, Georgia, US | (aged 58)
Place of burial | |
Allegiance | ![]() ![]() |
Service/ | ![]() ![]() |
Years of service | 1827 (U.S.) 1861–1864 (C.S.) |
Rank | ![]() ![]() |
Commands | First Corps, Army of Tennessee Army of Mississippi Third Corps, Army of Tennessee |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Spouse(s) |
Frances Devereux (m. 1830) |
Children | 10 |
Signature | ![]() |
The Right Reverend Leonidas Polk D.D. | |
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Bishop of Louisiana | |
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Church | Episcopal Church |
Diocese | Louisiana |
Elected | October 16, 1841 |
In office | 1841–1864 |
Successor | Joseph Pere Bell Wilmer |
Orders | |
Ordination | May 22, 1831 by Richard Channing Moore |
Consecration | December 8, 1838 by William Meade |
Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk (April 10, 1806 – June 14, 1864) was an American Confederate military officer, 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 planter in Maury County, Tennessee, and a first cousin twice removed 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 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 war's more notable, yet controversial, political generals. Recognizing his 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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