I took basic training at Fort Polk, LA, in 1969. I remember asking who Polk was and the answer was, "He was a general in the Civil War." No one mentioned that he was a general for the Confederacy! I learned this last year when they renamed it Fort Johnson.
That was far from Polk's only fumble in the Confederate uniform. Military historian Steven E. Woodworth wrote that the artillery shell that killed Polk in 1864 was "one of the worst shots fired for the Union cause during the entire course of the war….Polk’s incompetence and willful disobedience had consistently hamstrung Confederate operations west of the Appalachians, while his special relationship with the president [Davis] made the bishop-general untouchable."
(General Polk and his 2nd cousin President James K. Polk are each distant cousins of mine. Leonidas became an entry in this running listing to which I periodically add new fools/scoundrels/crooks/has-beens/never-weres, etc as I learn of them. No Medium account is needed to read it:
I'm 73, I LOVE getting parts of my life filled in occasionally. Thank you very much!
I took basic training at Fort Polk, LA, in 1969. I remember asking who Polk was and the answer was, "He was a general in the Civil War." No one mentioned that he was a general for the Confederacy! I learned this last year when they renamed it Fort Johnson.
That was far from Polk's only fumble in the Confederate uniform. Military historian Steven E. Woodworth wrote that the artillery shell that killed Polk in 1864 was "one of the worst shots fired for the Union cause during the entire course of the war….Polk’s incompetence and willful disobedience had consistently hamstrung Confederate operations west of the Appalachians, while his special relationship with the president [Davis] made the bishop-general untouchable."
(General Polk and his 2nd cousin President James K. Polk are each distant cousins of mine. Leonidas became an entry in this running listing to which I periodically add new fools/scoundrels/crooks/has-beens/never-weres, etc as I learn of them. No Medium account is needed to read it:
https://medium.com/@PaultheFossil/by-paul-botts-7f825c0bf4a8#85c1 )