Confederate General Leonidas Polk: Louisiana's Fighting Bishop

by Cheryl H. White PhD

Overview

Leonidas Polk is one of the most fascinating figures of the Civil War. Consecrated as a bishop of the Episcopal Church and commissioned as a general into the Confederate army, Polk's life in both spheres blended into a unique historical composite. Polk was a man with deep religious convictions but equally committed to the Confederate cause. He baptized soldiers on the eve of bloody battles, administered last rites and even presided over officers' weddings, all while leading his soldiers into battle. Historian Cheryl White examines the life of this soldier-saint and the legacy of a man who unquestionably brought the first viable and lively Protestant presence to Louisiana and yet represents the politics of one of the darkest periods in American history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614238690
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	02/26/2013
Series:	Civil War
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Cheryl H. White, Ph.D. is a professor of history at Louisiana State University in Shreveport. Her research interests include medieval Europe, Tudor England and Christian/religious history. In addition to numerous journal articles and academic conference presentations, she has co-written two previous titles: "Historic Haunts of Shreveport"? and "Wicked Shreveport."?

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

1 The Controversy of Leonidas Polk 11

2 Early Life, Education and a Christian Calling 23

3 Farmer, Preacher, Missionary Bishop 33

4 Bishop Polk in Antebellum Louisiana 43

5 Louisiana Secession Politics, War and the Protestant Episcopal Church 55

6 Major General Leonidas Polk in the Mississippi Valley, 1861 67

7 In the Army of Tennessee and Conflict with Braxton Bragg: 1862-63 81

8 The Death and Legacy of the Bishop-General 99

Notes 111

Bibliography 119

Index 123

About the Author 125