On Location: The Site of Leonidas Polk’s Death

On June 14, 1864, Confederate Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk was inspecting Federal movements from atop Pine Mountain when Federal artillery opened fire on him. I went On Location, on the anniversary of Polk’s death, to the spot where he was killed.

Polk is buried in Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans.

In the Jan. 2012 issue of America’s Civil War, an article by Ethan Rafuse listed Polk as one of the “Generals We Love to Hate.” For more on Polk’s career, the Civil War Trust has a brief biography.

During the Sesquicentennial, Lee White wrote about Polk’s death for ECW on the anniversary of the event.

Steve Davis, who wrote about Polk’s death in his ECWS book A Long and Bloody Task, also wrote about it for the Civil War Trust.