Civil War Confederate Army Officer. He served during the Civil War as Colonel and artillery commander in the Army of Tennessee. He lost a leg at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862.

http://www.tngenweb.org/civilwar/csaart/polk.html

Captain Polk was a nephew of President James K. Polk.

After the Civil War, he was the Treasurer of Tennessee. He was convicted of embezzling $400,000 from the State and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He died of a heart ailment before beginning his prison sentence.

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F20B15FC3A5F15738DDDA80894DB405B8484F0D3

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6005881