The Bishop Polk

[MikeyB]

Now, I am not very educated on this guy, just know the basics. But, did he contribute ANYTHING positive to the Confederate cause? Does he have any defenders? Genuinely interested to see what the saving graces were. Was he a good corps commander when he wasn't butting heads w/ Bragg? Or was he just bad?

Maybe they thought he had a special connection to God and that he would favor the Southern side?

 

[Sheltowee]

Now, I am not very educated on this guy, just know the basics. But, did he contribute ANYTHING positive to the Confederate cause? Does he have any defenders? Genuinely interested to see what the saving graces were. Was he a good corps commander when he wasn't butting heads w/ Bragg? Or was he just bad?

Maybe they thought he had a special connection to God and that he would favor the Southern side?

From what I gather- he contributed next to nothing. Flagrantly disobeyed Bragg's orders in Kentucky. But we are talking Bragg.
Nonetheless, Polk appears to have been quite popular with the rank and file.

I need to study Polk more.

 

[James N.]

Polk had been a friend of Jefferson Davis from their attendance together at West Point in the 1820's. Upon graduation instead of entering the service, Polk responded to a 'higher calling" entering the ministry where he eventually rose to become Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana. He owed his high rank to his old friend Davis who at the time immediately following secession likely gave little real thought to impending war and its consequences; naturally the results were disastrous. Polk had grown accustomed to being well-thought of and highly respected which gave him an inflated sense of self-worth as well as an aversion to obeying the orders of any superior. I don't think he ever intended to be difficult - his unusual position was just a poor fit with anything resembling military discipline. It goes without saying that he had been away from the service too long to have been anything like an effective commander of a then-modern army and recent technical developments. Unfortunately like many if not most of the high-ranking commanders on both sides who rose to prominence at the beginning of the war it was impossible to remove him in favor of someone more qualified due to his rank.

 

[gjpratt]

What is the best biography of Bishop Polk?

 

[Tennessee Union Gal]

Years ago, a friend was writing a romance novel set during the ACW, and Leonidas Polk was a side character. She told me, regarding his incompetence, that Polk was of more value to the Union alive than dead.

 

[James N.]

What is the best biography of Bishop Polk?

The only full biography I recall (and have never read) is called something like Leonidas Polk - Fighting Bishop but I know nothing about it. There were several undistinguished biographies of Civil War personalities that all appeared around the 1930's and 1940's including classics like D. S. Freeman's R. E. Lee and Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln but few if any have retained any claim to scholarship they might've originally had. One such I found cheap and reviewed here concerned Jubal Early and it was certainly of little interest or value to anyone wanting a truly personal or insightful critical study of the man and I'll bet the same is true for Polk as well.

 

[2nd Alabama Cavalry]

His effectiveness as a Field Commander during the Civil War could easily be stated as being mediocre at best. He is one of the very few who challenges Bragg in that mediocrity as one of the least effective Confederate Generals. He was loved by those who served under him, but was just not that effective as a commander. There were many opportunities which he failed to act upon from Shiloh, to the Meridian and Atlanta Campaigns which could have had a positive effect on the Confederacy. Yet he declined to act. My 3rd Great Grandfather (2nd Alabama Cavalry / Ferguson`s brigade) served in his Corps in Mississippi and Georgia from 10 Apr 1863 up until his death in June 1864. Below is the 19 Jun 1864 issue of the New York Daily Herald speaking on his Military Career just after he was killed.

 

[USS ALASKA]

What is the best biography of Bishop Polk?

Sir, some to choose from...

{⋆★⋆} LG - Polk, Leonidas | Biographic Profiles - We Will Remember

Leonidas Polk :CSA1stNat: Born: April 10, 1806 Birthplace: Raleigh, North Carolina Father: Colonel William Polk 1758 – 1834 (Buried: City Cemetery, Raleigh, North Carolina) Mother: Sarah Hawkins 1784 – 1843 (Buried: City Cemetery, Raleigh, North Carolina) Wife: Frances Ann Deveraux 1810 –...

civilwartalk.com

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[James N.]

My favorite wartime photo of Polk is quite different from the usually seen photo of him wearing his Bishop's robes. There's an even better and very unflattering wartime watercolor showing him as a grizzled and pot-bellied old codger looking more like Jubal Early than the stately Bishop!

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

View attachment 434650

My favorite wartime photo of Polk is quite different from the usually seen photo of him wearing his Bishop's robes. There's an even better and very unflattering wartime watercolor showing him as a grizzled and pot-bellied old codger looking more like Jubal Early than the stately Bishop!

He looks like Early's brother!

 

[jackt62]

the only full biography I recall (and have never read) is called something like Leonidas Polk - Fighting Bishop but I know nothing about it.

I did read the biography, "General Leonidas Polk, CSA, The Fighting Bishop," by Joseph Parks. It provides a sympathetic portrait of Polk, who was a favorite with his men, but overall, I got the impression that the writer was more impressed with his clerical career.

 

[Saruman]

What is the best biography of Bishop Polk?

I think Huston Horn's biography is the most detailed and balanced.

 

[Saruman]

Now, I am not very educated on this guy, just know the basics. But, did he contribute ANYTHING positive to the Confederate cause? Does he have any defenders? Genuinely interested to see what the saving graces were. Was he a good corps commander when he wasn't butting heads w/ Bragg? Or was he just bad?

Maybe they thought he had a special connection to God and that he would favor the Southern side?

I think he was best in independent command.

Polk defeated Grant at Belmont. The Union expedition was repulsed with 20% losses and in its chaotic retreat, Grant lost his bay horse, saddle, mess chest, and gold pen. McClernand lost his iron-framed cot and field desk with dispatches.

Polk thwarted Sherman's forces at Meridian in 1864. The Federals destroyed the town, but Polk saved 12 million dollars worth of military property and all the locomotives. Sherman only burnt empty warehouses and tore up track. Polk prevented Sherman from marching on Selma or Mobile by ordering Forrest to intercept and defeat Sherman's cavalry support under Sooy Smith. After Sherman departed, Polk had the Mobile & Ohio and the Alabama & Mississippi railroads back in operation in only 26 days, despite a severe shortage of rails, spikes and labourers.

 

[gjpratt]

I think Huston Horn's biography is the most detailed and balanced.

Thank you @Saruman

 

[Nathan Stuart]

The field performance of L-G 'Bishop' Polk as a Corps commander was probably sub-standard. Polk's military performance was described as being incompetent and willfully disobedient and this consistently hamstrung Confederate operations ('Sherman: Lessons in Leadership' by Steven E. Woodworth, at page 117).

Despite any shortcomings in combat leadership, he helped organize the Army of Tennessee in 1862. His redeeming quality might have been that he was very popular with, and could lift the morale of, his soldiers. As Albert Castel says (writing in the present tense) about Polk in 'Decision in the West' at page 46:

…"his unflinching courage in battle, his imposing presence, and his fatherly solicitude make him popular with the rank and file"…

This view of Polk's popularity is corroborated by Sam Watkins (1st​ Tennessee), who served through the war, in his own memoir of wartime experiences, 'Co. Aytch'. Watkins, reflecting upon Polk's death at Pine Mountain in 1864, wrote (page 127) about Polk in the following way:

…"His soldiers always loved and honored him. They called him 'Bishop Polk'. 'Bishop Polk' was ever a favorite with the army, and when any position was to be held, and it was known that 'Bishop Polk' was there, we knew and felt that 'all was well'.

Perhaps the depth of feeling and devotion felt by Southern soldiers for Polk can be demonstrated in their message expressed in a sign that they left on Pine Mountain for the advancing Federals to mark the spot where their leader was killed. On page 172 of his published Personal Memoirs, Union M-G David Stanley wrote about the sign found when Federal soldiers ascended the hill two days after the Confederate withdrawal. They found a stake in the ground with a paper sign on its top, which read:

…"Right here is where you Damned Yankee Sons of *****es killed Bishop General Polk"…

The death of Polk likely had a profound adverse effect on the morale of the soldiers under his command.

Woodworth (Ibid., page 117, Woodworth) thought that Polk's death disadvantaged the Union, because his incompetence made him more valuable alive than dead. Woodworth also conjectured that if Polk had lived, Davis would have probably replaced Johnston with him in the next few weeks, and this perhaps could have shortened the war by months.

 

[redbob]

He gets my vote for the most spectacular demise of a Civil War general.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Polk was killed instantly by an unexploded shell – certainly a sudden and spectacular demise.

Stanley's Chief of Artillery, Captain Peter Simonson, commanded the 5th​ Indiana Battery to fire several solid shot volleys on Pine Mountain. It was the second (or possibly third) shot of these volleys that struck Polk and killed him instantly.

Albert Castel, in 'Decision in the West' provides a detailed description (writing in the first person) of the sight of Polk's ghastly wound at page 276:

…"A three-inch solid shot, probably the second one fired by Simonson's battery, has struck Polk in the left side and passed through his chest, mangling both arms and ripping away his lungs and heart"…

The events after this incident are interesting too. About 48 hours later, Simonson (the artillery officer who ordered the shot), was killed instantly by a bullet shot to the head from a Confederate sharpshooter who targeted him. It is uncertain, though, whether Simonson was deliberately targeted by sharpshooters to avenge Polk's death. Apparently Confederate Lt. L. D. Young of the Orphan Brigade, who witnessed Polk's death, later claimed in his published reminiscences that it was one of the Kerr armed Kentucky sharpshooters (under Lt. G. H. Burton) that fired this fatal shot. Captain Simonson was a highly capable artillery officer whose loss was deeply felt by Stanley's Division.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

He owed his high rank to his old friend Davis who at the time immediately following secession likely gave little real thought to impending war and its consequences; naturally the results were disastrous.

to the Meridian and Atlanta Campaigns which could have had a positive effect on the Confederacy. Yet he declined to act.

Some of Polk's decisions regarding Sherman's Meridian objectives have made me question his ability to command large numbers of troops on a strategic level.

I need to study Polk more.

Same here.

I've recently learned more about Polk in the last few weeks from reading :
Sherman's Forgotten Campaign, The Meridian Expedition
by Margie Riddle Bearss

From what I've gathered so far, (even before reading this book) ...Polk was not an incompetent man ... but a poor choice for a General Officer.

Only my thoughts.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

From what I've gathered so far, Polk was not an incompetent man ... but only a poor choice for a General Officer.

From the limited information I've read about Polk, I would agree with this assessment.

 

[2nd Alabama Cavalry]

There are a few facts that I found interesting regarding Leonidas B. Polk. According to some period newspaper articles, both his father and grandfather fought during the American Revolution. His Father, a Colonel in the Continental Army, commanded the 4th North Carolina Infantry at Valley Forge. Leonidas B. Polk was the second cousin of James K. Polk, the eleventh President of the United States. On the night of 11-12 May 1864, General John Bell Hood had requested to be baptized and received into the Communion of the Episcopal Church by Bishop / Lt. General Leonidas B. Polk. This was performed that night at Dalton at General Joseph E. Johnston`s Headquarters at the Tibbs House. This being during the lead up to the Battle of Resaca and the initiation of the Atlanta Campaign.

I attach an article below regarding a fascinating event that happened to Leonidas B. Polk at Perryville, KY during the fighting there in 1862. If it is true it is an amazing story indeed.