Leonidas Polk and Nathan Bedford Forrest Together During The War Between the States:



Gen. L. Polk - C.S.A..


Forrest Monument, Memphis, Tenn.

Around June 10, 1861, N.B. Forrest reported to Memphis and received orders from Governor Isham Harris and Confederate Commander-in-Chief Major-General Leonidas Polk to raise a regiment of volunteer cavalry.  In April, 1862, Polk commanded a corps at Shiloh, while Forrest commanded his own cavalry in the same battle.  (The Polk's Corps Shiloh Flag is displayed in duPont Library at THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH.)   During the September, 1862, push into Kentucky by General Bragg, C.S.A., N.B. Forrest's cavalry was placed in command of all cavalry supporting General Polk and the army's right wing.   Forrest's cavalry guarded the left of Polk's Corps in Shelbyville, Tennessee, 1863, then his cavalry chased Wilder's Raiders from Polk's University Place, June, 1863, preventing further damage to the railroad tracks.  Forrest followed Polk over the Cumberland Mountain at University Place at the end of the Middle Tennessee Campaign, July, 1863.  At Chickamauga, with Forrest on his right, Polk commanded the right wing.  Both Polk and Forrest were vigorous in their dismay and complaints over Bragg's lack of pursuit after the Confederate victory at Chickamauga, September, 1863; both were re-assigned to commands in Mississippi.  Polk notified Forrest that he had been promoted to Major-General in January, 1864.  In February, 1864, under orders from Polk, Forrest prevented Federal Sooy Smith's cavalry from reinforcing Union General William Techumseh Sherman in Meridian, thus ending the Meridian Campaign and forcing Sherman back to Vicksburg.  Under orders of Polk, Forrest and his troopers returned to Mississippi in May, 1864, which led to his brilliant victory at Brice's Cross Roads, June 10, 1864.  (Main sources: THE CAMPAIGNS OF GENERAL NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST and of Forrest's Cavalry, General Thomas Jordan and J.P. Pryor, 1868, LEONIDAS POLK, W.M. Polk, 1893, LEONIDAS POLK, C.S.A, Parks,1962, NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST, A Biography, Jack Hurst, 1993.) 


Tennessee Historical Commission marker 2 E 52 on Tennessee Highway 56, Beersheba Springs-
FORREST'S
MURFREESBORO RAID

July 10, 1862
Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest's brigade passed here enroute to its junction with additional units, to be followed by a further advance on the Federal garrison and stores at Murfreesboro. Leaving Chattanooga on July 9, the brigade here consisted of the 8th Texas Cavalry (Wharton), 2nd Georgia Cavalry (Lawton), and Woodward's Kentucky Cavalry Battalion, with a headquarters unit of 20 men, commanded by Captain William Forrest. Further accessions to strength were to join at McMinnville.
Thus, here at Beersheba Springs, site of University founding lay trustee John Armfield's resort, including the still-standing cottages of Bishop Otey and Bishop Polk, which were given to them by Armfield, Nathan Bedford Forrest ("the Wizard of the Saddle") crossed the Cumberland Plateau on his way to raid the Federal occupiers of Murfreesboro and liberate its illegally imprisoned citizens. 

Tennessee Historical Commission marker 2E 25 on Tennessee Highway 56, Beersheba Springs-

BEERSHEBA INN

1/4 mile S. E. In 1837 several log structures were built and later joined together. Later, buildings of handmade brick were added. Enlargement to present form was made by Col. John Armfield in 1857. In antebellum days the courtyard was the scene of varied diversions and activities, including holding of missionary services by Episcopal Bishops and Polk.





John Armfield's Beersheba Inn.




Bishop Polk's Cottage, gift from John Armfield.




Bishop Otey's Cottage, gift from John Armfield.
While Forrest traversed the plateau at Armfield's resort in 1862, at the same location remained the sacred altar upon which was accepted the University's Charter by Bishop Polk at Beersheba Springs in 1858.  In the century following the War, the altar was retrieved by Mr. Arthur Ben Chitty and now rests in the Archives of THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH. 



Plaque-

THIS ALTAR WAS USED
IN THE HOME OF THE
RT. REV. LEONIDAS POLK
BISHOP OF LOUISIANA
AT BEERSHEBA SPRINGS, TENNESSEE
WHEN THE TRUSTEES MET
JULY 3, 1858
AND THE CHARTER OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH
WAS ACCEPTED


After Nathan Bedford Forrest and his cavalry passed through Beersheba Springs, they proceeded to victoriously raid and rout the Federal occupiers of Murfreesboro who were the jailers of its Confederate citizens. The ladies of the town offered thankful encouragement and inspired Forrest's riders to cheer:
"Long live the women!"

(Source: THE CAMPAIGNS OF GENERAL NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST, 1868, Jordan and Prior.)
THE WOMEN OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY



Model of initial proposed monument
for Nashville, Tennessee.

" 'It was admitted by the enemy from their experience,' wrote the author of "Memories of the War" in De Bow's Review, 'that the men of the South might have been conquered, but the women never.' " -Anne Sarah Rubin, A SHATTERED NATION: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CONFEDERACY, 1861-1865, 2005

A GROUP OF CONFEDERATE WOMEN



______________


"WINNIE" DAVIS MONUMENT,
HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY, RICHMOND, VA.

"Referring to that feminine ideal, she [Elizabeth Lumpkin] told a group of Georgia veterans in 1904, 'I would rather be a woman than a man... What woman would not, if she could be a Southern woman and be loved by Southern men?' " -Karen L. Cox, DIXIE'S DAUGHTERS, The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture, 2003


United Daughters of the Confederacy.




Emblem and Motto of the United Daughters of the Confederacy-
LIVE - PRAY - THINK - DARE - LOVE
___________________________


Sally Tompkins,
Confederate Heroine.

"In order to keep Tompkins medical care facility open, President Jefferson Davis appointed Sally Captain of cavalry (unassigned) and she became the only woman to hold a commission in the Confederate States Army. The men now called her "Captain Sally." Being in the military, she was able to draw rations and supplies easier than a civilian could but she refused to draw a military salary. Her hospital closed on June 13, 1865; two months after the Union Army occupied Richmond. After the war she continued to perform charity work and generous acts for war veterans. She was a faithful Episcopal and the St. James's Episcopal Church in Richmond honored her life with a stained glass window in the sanctuary." -Major Robert A. Niepert, Hardy's Brigade Cavalry Commander, 10th Tennessee Cavalry Company D, http://www.floridareenactorsonline.com/
DecemberMag12003.htm; viewed 8/28/05.



Sally Tompkins in St. James Episcopal Church,
Richmond, Virginia.

__________________________

ANGELS OF THE CONFEDERACY

"The Monument to Confederate Women, called Angels of the Confederacy, was erected in 1912. The sculptor was Frederick W. Ruckstull. The inscription on the northwest side reads: 'In this monument, generations unborn shall hear the voice of a grateful people testifying to the sublime devotion of the women of South Carolina in their country’s need. Their unconquerable spirit strengthened the thin lines of gray, their tender care was solace to the stricken. Reverence for God and unfaltering faith in a righteous cause inspired heroism that survived the immolation of sons, and courage that bore the agony of suspense and the shock of disaster. The tragedy of the Confederacy may be forgotten, but the fruits of the noble service of the daughters of the South are our perpetual heritage.' " -http://www.knowitall.org/letsgo/lgsh/c_grounds/txt50.html; viewed 8/29/05.
______________________




Model for the
Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy monument.
_________________

"She [Mrs. Thomas Taylor] wanted it to be made known that women were a 'potent factor' during the war. They furnished food and clothing for men in battle; they nursed the wounded and dying in hospitals; and they had gone to work in munitions factories. In sum. they had answered their country's call to duty, and their efforts should be recognized." -Cox, 2003

Georgia Historical Commission marker 141-13 (1957), Troup County Courthouse, LaGrange, Georgia-

THE NANCY HARTS

In 1863, a company of women soldiers was formed in LaGrange by Mrs. J. Brown Morgan. They called themselves the "Nancy Harts" in honor of Georgia's Revolutionary War heroine. Organized to defend LaGrange in the absence of its men, the Nancy Harts held drills and target practice and became proficient at each. On April 17, 1865, a column of Union cavalry was reported to be approaching LaGrange from the west. This column, the 2nd Brig., 1st Div., of Wilson's cavalry corps, was commanded by Col. O.H. LaGrange, 1st Wis. Cav. On the 16th, it had crossed the Chattahoochee River at West Point (18 miles SW), captured Fort Tyler, a strong redoubt commanding the town, and destroyed the bridges, the rail facilities, 19 locomotives, 340 cars loaded with army supplies, and much valuable machinery. Early on the 17th, it had marched toward LaGrange, destroying the railroad enroute. The Nancy Harts mobilized promptly, determined to resist any attempted depredations, but they were spared a trial at arms. Seeing the charmingly militant array formed to meet him, Colonel LaGrange complimented them upon their fearless spirit and fine martial air and, after a brief delay, marched on toward Macon, leaving no scar other than the broken railroad to deface this gracious Georgia town whose name he chanced to bear.




The Nancy Hearts.





Downtown Macon, Georgia.




"ERECTED TO THE MEMORY
OF THE WOMEN OF THE
SOUTH
BY THEIR HUSBANDS, FATHERS,
SONS AND DAUGHTERS."




1861-1865




C.S.A.

Confederate heroine comforting Confederate soldier.




C.S.A.

Confederate woman and child on the Southern homefront.



Confederate Veteran, Vol. 1., No. 8, May 1893-



Kentucky Representative.



Oklahoma Territory Representative.

 


Confederate Veteran, Vol. II., No. 5, May 1894-



Southern Beauties at Birmingham.



Confederate Veteran, Vol. II., No. 9, May 1894-



Young ladies selected to ride in the procession when President
Jefferson Davis' body was received in Raleigh, North Caorlina
(birthplace of Bishop-General Leonidas Polk).





Reunion singer.



Confederate Veteran, Vol. III, No. 10, October 1895-






Kentucky Honors Her Southern Sisters.



Confederate Veteran, Vol. IV., No. 1, January 1896-



Confederate Veteran, Vol. 4., No. 4, April 1896-



Excerpt from "The Women of the South,"
by Albert Sidney Morton:

Miss Antionette Wayne Van Leer Polk,
Confederate heroine and niece of Bishop-General Leonidas Polk-



Confederate Veteran, Vol. 4, No.7, July 1896-



Sponsor for Alabama.



Maid of Honor for Tennessee.




Daughters of Jefferson Davis.




Confederate Veteran, Vol. IV., No. 8, August 1896-



Sponsor for Oklahoma.




Confederate Veteran, Vol. IV., No. 12, December 1896-



Southern Belle.



Confederate Veteran, Vol. 5, No. 7, August 1897-

Maid of Honor for South Carolina.






Maid of Honor for North Carolina.




Maid of Honor for Georgia.



Maid of Honor for Tennessee.

(Miss Medora Cheatham, daughter of
Major-General Benjamin F. Cheatham, C.S.A.)




Maid of Honor for Louisiana.






Sponsor for Texas.





First Maid of Honor for Arkansas.




Confederate Veteran, Vol. 5, No. 12, December 1897-



"...But all through there is the fascinating atmosphere of old families in
Southern house parties, and generous hospitality and beautiful women and gallant men."


Confederate Veteran, Vol. 7., No. 5, May 1899-






Confederate Veteran, Vol. 9, No. 5, May 1901-



Maid of Honor, Second Brigade, Arkansas.






Maid of Honor for Arkansas Division.






Maid of Honor, First Brigade, Kentucky Division.






Sponsor for West Virginia.



Confederate Veteran, Vol. XXII, No. 5, May 1914-



Sponsor for the Tennessee Division,
United Confederate Veterans.

Excerpt from "Battles of Georgia,"
poem by Mrs. Lula Kendall Rogers,
Poet Laureate Georgia Division, U.D.C.,
Confederate Veteran, Vol. XXXI, No. 5, May 1923-




Confederate Veteran, Vol. XXX, No. 4, April 1928-



Sponsor for the South.



Maid of Honor for the South.

Polk and Forrest, continued:



Beersheba Springs Resort developer and founding lay trustee of
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH-

JOHN ARMFIELD



Armfield Bluff, on the Domain of
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH.




Mr. & Mrs. John Armfield
Who established Beersheba Springs.



Grave monument of John Armfield,
private cemetery, Beersheba Springs.


John Armfield
Died
Sept. 20 1871;
Aged 74 Years.


On June 15, 1864, Union General W.T. Sherman declared murderous animus toward Forrest, due to his brilliant victory at Brice's Cross Roads on the 10th instant, within the very same letter that he reported the murder of Polk, whom he recognized as a bishop and not a general.

Tennessee Historical Commission marker 3D 19 near St. John's Episcopal Church and Leonidas Polk's former Ashwood Plantation, Mount Pleasant, Tennessee-

FORREST AND CAPRON

November 24, 1864, Forrest's Cavalry, screening the advance of Stewart's Corps on Columbia met Capron's Cavalry Brigade in this locality and chased it back to Columbia, where the presence of Stanley's XXII Corps behind entrenchments gave them protection and prevented Forrest from seizing the bridges over the Duck River.


Thus, here at Leonidas Polk's St. John's Episcopal Church, the Polk family's plantation church, located on the lands of Polk's former Ashwood Plantation in Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, occurring in the fifth month after the martyred Bishop-General's death on Pine Mountain, the General Nathan Bedford Forrest protected Polk's loyal former division commanders and the troops within his corps' gallant brigades.



Tennessee Historical Commission marker 3D 37 on the Mount Pleasant Pike-

ST. JOHN'S

Consecrated September 4, 1842, by James Hervey Otey, first Bishop of Tennessee, this church was built by Leonidas Polk, then Missionary Bishop of the Southwest, and his three bothers, George, Lucius, and Rufus, who divided a grant received by their father, Col. William Polk, of North Carolina.  Memorial Services are held here on Whitsunday.


"Generations of those who died earlier are buried there [St. John's]- representatives of the old-time South.  The ideal Southern gentleman, with his courtesy and chivalry, the gracious gray-haired matron, their surroundings as well as their heredity developed their characteristics of loyalty, truthfulness, courtesy and courage."  -Mary Polk Branch, MEMOIRS OF A SOUTHERN WOMAN, 1912


Charged with desecrating church, cemetery         

Thursday, May 31, 2001

The Associated Press (excerpts)

MOUNT PLEASANT -- Two teens are being held under $1 million bond each after being charged with vandalizing a church where President James K. Polk's family once worshipped...  The desecrated gravestones included those of three Tennessee Episcopal bishops and Lucius Polk, brother to the church's founder, the Rev. Leonidas Polk.  The men were cousins to James K. Polk, the nation's 11th president...  District Attorney Mike Bottoms estimated the damage at $100,000, but the historical loss even greater... "I don't know how anybody could do anything like this," Hardison said. "It is just evil people."...  "They said they were drinking and just did it," he said... "It's heartbreaking," Maury County historian Bob Duncan said.  "I can't believe the vicious energy that went into this desecration."...  (The Oak Ridger)


Leonidas Polk's youngest living brother, Andrew Jackson Polk, owned Ashwood Hall during the War, and part of his fame derived from his organizing on the mansion's lawn the "Maury County Braves," Company F, 1st Tennessee Cavalry Regiment, which he did on July 5, 1861, being the day after Leonidas Polk reported to Memphis as a Major-General in command of Department Number 2.  (During the War, Andrew's cotton was successfully transported through the Union blockade of Southern ports.) 




Antionette Polk.

His daughter, and Leonidas Polk's niece, the Confederate heroine Antoinette Polk, who later became Baronne de Charette de la Contrie, performed the patriotic "Ride of Miss Antoinette Polk," on July 13, 1863.  While visiting a cousin's plantation, she was alerted to the approach of the Federal Wilder's Raiders toward her Ashwood Hall home, where a Confederate major-general and staff were headquartered.  Leaping on her horse named "Shiloh," she glamorously eluded the pursuing Federal cavalrymen and alerted the Confederates of their impending threat and capture; all escaped.  After exclaiming, "Why did you not shoot her in the back?", Union Col. John Wilder then stole over 100 of Andrew Polk's finest horses from Ashwood Hall plantation; two week earlier Wilder had been found at Leonidas Polk's University Place at Sewanee destroying the railroad tracks, only to be victoriously chased off the Mountain by Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry.  (KENTUCKY AND THE BOURBONS, The Story of Allen Dale Farm, Ronald R. Van Stockum, 1996, POLK'S FOLLY, William R. Polk, 2000, Sewanee and the Cumberland Plateau in the Civil War, George Reynolds)

Through the 1909 international marriage of Leonidas Polk's great-nephew, Marquis Antoine de Charette, son of Leonidas Polk's niece, Antoinette Van Leer Polk, the Baronne de Charette de la Contrie, to Miss Susanne Henning, who was the grand-daughter of Thornton Meriwether, descendant of Nicholas Meriwether I of Old Virginia, the blood of two of American South's oldest land-owning Southern families combined.  (Main Source: KENTUCKY AND THE BOURBONS, Van Stockum, 1996, The Meriwether Society, Inc.)


 
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