Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk is notable as a distinguished West Point graduate, first Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana, university founder, and Confederate commander beloved by his troops, esteemed by the public, and killed on the field of battle. In spite of his many accomplishments, historians invariably disparage Polk’s generalship and even his personal character—but is their treatment fair or accurate?
This work employs a balanced perspective to shed new light on Polk’s military leadership and reveal unexpected truths that explain his conflict with General Braxton Bragg. A seemingly insignificant piece of correspondence, along with an exploration of both men’s writings, coalesce into a novel understanding of the root cause of the command dysfunction and chronic failures of the Army of Tennessee.

Amanda Low Warren is the music and choir director of an Anglican church. She lives in Flowery Branch, Georgia.

Amanda Low Warren
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages:
Bibliographic Info: ca. 55 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9382-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5238-2
Imprint: McFarland

• “No matter how numerous, accusations without a defense do not constitute a trial. If General Leonidas Polk is to be properly judged before the bar of history, he deserves a defense. Amanda Warren provides one that is a keeper.”—Philip Leigh, author of The Confederacy at Flood Tide: The Political and Military Ascension, June to December 1862

• Amanda Warren’s Southern Cross is the best military biography of the South’s “Fighting Bishop” to be written in decades. Well researched and superbly written, it casts serious doubt on some of the criticisms of General Leonidas Polk’s military abilities, as well as some of the unjust attacks on his personal character. Highly recommended.”—Samuel W. Mitcham Jr., author of The Encyclopedia of Confederate Generals