Dr. Cheryl White speaks on General Leonidas Polk, Louisiana’s Fighting Bishop

General Leonidas Polk was one of the more controversial generals of the War Between the States.
General Polk is best remembered for his great blunder of the war by sending Confederate troops to occupy Columbus, Kentucky in September of 1861. Kentucky was a border state that had declared its neutrality between the Union and the Confederacy.
Polk’s action of sending in Confederate troops into Kentucky prompted the Kentucky state legislature to request federal aid to resist Polk’s advance. Polk’s action ended Kentucky’s attempt at neutrality and effectively ceding the state to Union control for the remainder of the war. General Polk while serving under the command of General Joseph E. Johnson was killed in action in 1864 at Pine Mountain, Georgia during the Atlanta Campaign.
General Polk was considered a poor general who was loved greatly by the men under his command. Dr. Cheryl White in her book entitled “Confederate General Leonidas Polk: Louisiana’s Fighting Bishop” presents another aspect of the life of Leonidas Polk as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.
Dr. Cheryl White is an Associate Professor of History at Louisiana State University at Shreveport and is the author of several books, including “Confederate General Leonidas Polk: Louisiana’s Fighting Bishop”, which was published by The History Press of Charleston, S.C. in 2013. She is currently working on a book about acts of human compassion under white flag of surrender during the Civil War, as well as a book on the folklore of Louisiana antebellum plantations.
Dr. White will present her program on Leonidas Polk at the Young-Sanders Center for the Study of the War Between the States in Louisiana on Saturday, April 30 at 1:30 p.m.
Dr. White will autograph her book for those interested in acquiring a copy after the lecture. The general public is invited. The Young-Sanders Center is located at 701 Teche Drive in Franklin, Louisianam one block away from the St. Mary Parish Court House. For further information call 985-413-1861.