{⋆★⋆} BG Polk, Lucius Eugene

Lucius Eugene Polk

:CSA1stNat:
General Polk.jpg


Born: July 10, 1833

Birth Place: Salisbury, North Carolina

Father: William Julius Polk 1793 – 1860
(Buried: Saint John’s Church Cemetery, Ashwood, Tennessee)​

Mother: Mary Rebecca Long 1797 – 1885
(Buried: Saint John’s Church Cemetery, Ashwood, Tennessee)​

Wife: Sally Moore 1844 – 1925 (Married: 1863)
(Buried: Saint John’s Church Cemetery, Ashwood, Tennessee)​

Children:

Rufus King Polk 1866 – 1902​
(Buried: Fairview Cemetery, Danville, Pennsylvania)​
Captain Lucius Eugene Polk Jr. 1870 – 1904​
(Buried: Saint John’s Church Cemetery, Ashwood, Tennessee)​
William J. Polk 1875 – 1956​
(Buried: Mount Hope Cemetery, Franklin, Tennessee)​
Charles M. Polk 1878 – 1959​
(Buried: Bellefontaine Cemetery, Saint Louis, Missouri)​

Education:

1852: Graduated from University of Virginia​

Occupation before War:

Planter in Helena, Arkansas
General Polk after war.jpg

Civil War Career:

1861 – 1862: Served in the Yell Rifles​
1862: Wounded in the face during the Battle of Shiloh​
1862: Colonel of 15th Arkansas Infantry Regiment​
1862 – 1864: Brigadier General of Confederate Army Infantry​
1864: Severely Wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain​
1864: Honorably Discharged from the Confederate Army​

Occupation after War:

Planter in Columbia, Tennessee​
Had an encounter with the Ku Klux Klan in Tennessee​
1884: Delegate to Democratic Party National Convention
IMG_8637.JPG
1887 – 1892: Tennessee State Senator​

Died: December 1, 1892

Place of Death: Columbia, Tennessee

Cause of Death: Typhoid – dysentery

Age at time of Death: 59 years old

Burial Place: Saint John’s Church Cemetery, Ashwood, Tennessee
 
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Before being wounded near Kennesaw, Polk was Cleburne's senior most subordinate and most likely replacement at division command if Cleburne was ever promoted.
Polk's House breifly served as Army Headquarters during the march to Franklin. IIRC Cleburne's remains were reburied on his property after the battle, after the original cemetary he was buried in was discovered to be for poor and criminals.
 
Very few students of the Civil War need reminding who his uncle was. That wound he receved at Kennesaw Mountain on June 27, 1864 was pretty much the end of his military career. His Brigade was broken up and distributed to other regiments,
 
Before being wounded near Kennesaw, Polk was Cleburne's senior most subordinate and most likely replacement at division command if Cleburne was ever promoted.
Polk's House breifly served as Army Headquarters during the march to Franklin. IIRC Cleburne's remains were reburied on his property after the battle, after the original cemetary he was buried in was discovered to be for poor and criminals.
Doing more research on Cleburne's Division, it seems Polk was wounded July 16th at Gilgal Church, an artillery shell tore through his leg, not taking it off but debilitating it painfully.
 
When Cleburne was promoted to Major General in Dec, of 1862 Polk took over command of his old brigade.
Polk was quite junior in the brigade; I believe B. J. Hill was senior colonel. However, Cleburne wanted him, and given his ties to Leonidas Polk, he got it quite easily from there.
Doesn't mean he was a bad commander promoted to nepotism (Marcus Wright is best case of that), he was a hard fighter, and did great at Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, and Ringgold Gap.
 
Despite the reputation of his uncle (and now doubt nepotism playing heavily into his promotion), Polk proved to be among the best brigadiers in the Army of Tennessee. Many soldiers in reference to him call him "Cleburne's Murat". If he hadn't been so badly wounded at Gilgal Church, he would have gotten command of Cleburne's Division.
 
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