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"THE EPISCOPALIAN" September 1976
{begin clipping} {image of Polk} Bishop-General Leonidas Polk of Louisiana "sympathized so ardently with the rebel leaders that he was induced in an evil moment to resign his bishopric and accepted from Jeff Davis a commission in the rebel army as Major-General." Reports at the time said since Bishop Polk became a soldier, he "doffed the decent manners of the episcopate for the habits of a trooper - that he drinks, swears, etc., etc." But he baptized three generals on the battlefield. {end clipping}
{begin clipping} {image of Polk} LEONIDAS POLK
Throughout the South, Asheville was regarded a secure haven. Wounded officers came here to convalesce. Here elements of Jeb Stuart's cavalry revived their gay spirits, played banjos, and rested their jaded horses. Here Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk sent his wife for safety after he dropped the bishop's frock and put on the gray uniform to campaign with the Army of Tennessee until shot down in front of Kenesaw Mountain. {end clipping}
{begin stamp} THE MOBILE REGISTER MOBILE, ALA. D. 43,516 SUN. 41,476
MAY 3 1969 B[ritelle's?] {end stamp} {begin clipping} Relics Are Displayed At Meeting Of UDC
Items presented to the Jefferson Davis Chaper, United Daughters of the Confederacy, were displayed at the meeting yesterday at the home of Mrs. H. Abb Woolridge.
Old UDC pins and a prisoner's pass issued in 1865 were given to the chapter by George Arras through Mrs. Martin Breisten. These included a Robert E. Lee lapel pin, a pin from a state UDC reunion held in Mobile Nov. 15-16, 1904; and a pin from a Washington, D.C. convention in April 1905, issued in memory of Confederate soldiers.
The pass was issued from the office of the provost marshal in Selma on May 20, 1865, to Union Captain William S. Taylor, a paroled prisoner by order of Brig. Gen. C. O. Andrews. The pass was signed by George C. Evanston, captain and provost marshal.
Mrs. Ernest C. Edgar Jr., presented the program, "The Fighting Bishop General Leonidias Polk, CSA." She said that Bishop Polk graduated from West Point Academy in 1827 and resigned his cavalry lieutenant's commission to enter the Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1830.
In 1860 the bishop laid the cornerstone for the University of the South at Sewanne, Tenn., "the reality of his dreams and labors."
At the age of 51, Bishop Polk put aside his robes to wear the gray and fight with the Confederacy. Mrs. Edgar said his special duty was to defend the Mississippi River and that he was killed in action atop Pine Mountain, Ga., while viewing an enemy location."
Mrs. Howard M. Wheeler was a guest.
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