calsfoundation@cals.org
July 10, 1833
Civil War general Lucius Polk was born in Salisbury, North Carolina. Polk, who for a brief time made Arkansas his home, was a nephew of Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk (the “Fighting Bishop” who previously oversaw the Episcopal Church in Arkansas). His greatest claim to fame, however, was rising from the rank of private in the Yell Rifles at the outbreak of the Civil War to the rank of brigadier general under Major General Patrick Cleburne late in 1862. He achieved this command post while being wounded numerous times in the course of the war.