Lucius Eugene Polk

Background

Lucius Eugene Polk was born on July 10, 1833, in Salisbury, North Carolina, United State. He was the son of William Julius Polk and his wife Mary Rebecca Long Polk.

Education

Lucius Polk graduated from the University of Virginia in 1852.

Career

In 1853, Polk settled near Helena, Arkansas, and soon became a prosperous planter. He had no political ambition before the Civil War. When the war began, he enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army in the West and served under General William Hardee.

He was promoted to colonel after he was wounded during the battle of Shiloh in April 1862. Severely wounded at the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky, on August 30, he was wounded yet again at the battle of Perry villein October, after covering the retreat from Corinth only days before. He was promoted to brigadier general on December 13, 1862, and won praise for his performance at the battle of Murfreesboro.

Polk was heroic during the battle of Chickamauga and fought at Missionary Ridge before a final wound during the battle of Kenesaw Mountain in June 1864 disabled him for further service. He returned to his father’s home in Tennessee. After the war, he lived quietly on his plantation in Columbia, Maury County, Tennessee.

In 1887, he served as a Democrat in the state Senate.

Achievements

• Lucius Eugene Polk was probably the ablest brigade commander in the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Polk's brigade (consisting of the First and Fifteenth Arkansas, Second and Forty-eighth Tennessee, and Fifth Confederate regiments) was the pride of Cleburne's division and that division was the pride of William J. Hardee's corps and the Army of Tennessee.

Politics

Polk was a staunch Democrat, he was elected a delegate to the National Convention in 1884.

Personality

An incredibly successful brigade commander, Polk inspired confidence and that confidence inspired victory and determination.

Physical Characteristics: Sam Watkins described Lucius Polk as a man "with long black hair that curled, a gentle and attractive black eye that seemed to sparkle with love rather than chivalry, and were it not for a young mustache and goatee that he usually wore, he would have passed for a beautiful girl. In his manner, he was as simple and guileless as a child, and generous almost to a fault."

Quotes from others about the person

• "In every battle, he was engaged in, he led his men to victory, or held the enemy at bay, while the surge of battle was against us; he always seemed the successful general, who would snatch victory out of the very jaws of defeat. In every battle, Polk's brigade, of Cleburne's division, almost making the name of Cleburne as the Stonewall of the West. Polk was to Cleburne what Murat or the Old Guard was to Napoleon." - Sam Watkins

Connections

Lucius was married to a cousin, Sallie Moore Polk, on August 19, 1863, and they had five children, one of whom was later United States Congressman Rufus King Polk of Pennsylvania.

Father:

William Julius Polk

1793-1860

Mother:

Mary Rebecca Long Polk

1797-1885

Wife:

Sallie Moore Polk

1844-1925

Uncle:

Leonidas Polk

Sister:

Grizelda Gilchrist Polk Houston

1819-1901

Brother:

Allen Jones Polk

1824-1897

Brother:

Thomas Gilchrist Polk

1825-1877

Sister:

Mary Jones Polk Branch

1830-1918

Brother:

Rowan Polk

1835-1844

Brother:

Robin A. William Polk

1842-1848

Brother:

Rufus Julius Polk

1843-1913

Son:

Rufus King Polk

1866-1902

Son:

William J. Polk

1875-1956

colleague:

William Joseph Hardee

References

• Civil War High Commands
  2002
• Who Was Who in the Civil War
  1988
• Generals in Gray Lives of the Confederate Commander
  1959