The Bishop of the Old South: The Ministry and Civil War Legacy of Leonidas PolkLeonidas Polk was one of the antebellum South's most significant religious leaders. The son of a wealthy, slaveholding veteran of the Revolutionary War, Polk graduated from West Point in 1827 and seemed destined for martial service. Instead he pursued a ministerial career and was the first Episcopal bishop of Louisiana. Polk attempted to cultivate a religious solidarity among white Southerners of all classes and to broaden the social and cultural appeal of Episcopalianism in the South. Ultimately, Polk's Lost Cause mythmakers developed a public memory of the bishop general that celebrated the virtue of the Christian gentleman who had waged war for Southern independence. A considerable amount of new information on Polk's family, time at West Point, ministry, life as a planter, role with Sewanee, and his place within the pantheon of Lost Cause icons has been brought to light. What emerges is a clearer portrait of the Bishop of the Old South. |
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Page vii
... Military Academy and the University of the South were gracious hosts . The personnel in the Manuscripts and Rare Books Department at Tulane University permitted me to continue working as they moved from one building to another . The ...
... Military Academy and the University of the South were gracious hosts . The personnel in the Manuscripts and Rare Books Department at Tulane University permitted me to continue working as they moved from one building to another . The ...
Page ix
... Military Academy , Polk embraced Christianity for the first time and suddenly found himself contemplating a call into the ministry . Indecision and self - doubt marked the early years of his ministry , but in 1838 he became missionary ...
... Military Academy , Polk embraced Christianity for the first time and suddenly found himself contemplating a call into the ministry . Indecision and self - doubt marked the early years of his ministry , but in 1838 he became missionary ...
Page xi
... military , seven of the Confederacy's eight full generals were Episcopalian . The denomination also provided an inordinate number of chaplains in comparison to the number of churchmen serving in the ranks.8 In summary , Southern ...
... military , seven of the Confederacy's eight full generals were Episcopalian . The denomination also provided an inordinate number of chaplains in comparison to the number of churchmen serving in the ranks.8 In summary , Southern ...
Page xii
... military service , his actions during the sectional crisis represented some of his most aggressive attempts to make Episcopalianism relevant to the social and political concerns of the South . The bishop as general embodied the ...
... military service , his actions during the sectional crisis represented some of his most aggressive attempts to make Episcopalianism relevant to the social and political concerns of the South . The bishop as general embodied the ...
Page 2
... military hostilities between the Colonists and Great Britain , Polk received a commission as colonel of the Fourth North Carolina regiment . In the fall of 1776 , his unit drew its first assignment and was part of the contingent that ...
... military hostilities between the Colonists and Great Britain , Polk received a commission as colonel of the Fourth North Carolina regiment . In the fall of 1776 , his unit drew its first assignment and was part of the contingent that ...
Contents
1 | |
Evangelical Origins | 35 |
The Planter as Priest | 74 |
The Emergence of a Southern Nationalist | 115 |
The Bishop as General | 151 |
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antebellum Army of Tennessee Baton Rouge battle Belmont bishop of Louisiana Bishop Polk Braxton Bragg Breckinridge cadets campaign Chapel Hill chaplain Charles Colcock Jones Cheatham Christ Christian Church Intelligencer Civil Clapp clerical command Confederacy Convention culture death denomination Devereux Diocese of Louisiana elite Episcopalians Federal Georgia gospel historian honor Jackson James James Hervey Otey Jefferson Davis John Johnston Joseph Merrick Kentuckians Kentucky Leighton Leonidas Polk Papers Lost Cause Louisiana History Louisiana State University McIlvaine Memphis Merrick Jones Hall ministry Missions Mississippi Moreover neutrality North Carolina Old South Orleans Otey Pioneer and Agriculturalist plantation planters political Polk to William Polk's prayer Presbyterian President Protestant Episcopal Church Quintard religion Ruffin Sarah Polk secession Seminary sermon slaveholders slavery social society soldiers Solon Robinson Southern Episcopalians Southern Evangelicals Southern nationalism spirit Stephen Elliott sugar Thayer theological Tulane University United University of North University Press USMA Virginia vols West Point William Polk York
Popular passages
Page 5 - Polk and Middleton, who commanded the state infantry, were no less conspicuous for their good conduct than their intrepidity; and the troops under their command gave a specimen of what may be expected from men, naturally brave, when improved by proper discipline.