Polk, Leonidas, << pohk, lee ON ih duhs >> (1806-1864), an Episcopal bishop, was a Confederate general in the American Civil War (1861-1865). He commanded the defense of the Mississippi River in 1861. He fought in the battles at Belmont, Missouri; Shiloh, Tennessee; Perryville, Kentucky; and Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He led a corps at Chickamauga, Georgia, and served in the Atlanta campaign. Polk was killed in action at Pine Mountain, Georgia, on June 14, 1864.
Polk was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, on April 10, 1806. He graduated from the United States Military Academy. In 1827, he left the army to study for the ministry. In 1841, he became the first Protestant Episcopal bishop of Louisiana. Polk later helped found the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.
