Both sides of the Civil War had its share of poor generals. With the desperate need to create large armies out of almost nothing, there was great opportunity for sub-par men to rise in the ranks. Amongst the Confederate generals there stood one fool head and shoulders above the rest: Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk. Not only did he cost the lives of thousands of his men because of his refusal to discipline them or follow orders on time, but he regularly shifted blame to every other officer but himself and blackened the name of General Bragg to save his own skin. Lt. General Polk is a shining example of the worst the South could produce: a man rich in charm and eloquence but entirely insubordinate and petulant.
His first major blunder came in September 1861 when he, while acting against orders and reason, violated Kentucky's neutrality to capture the town of Columbus. Not only did this throw the unstable state into the North's camp, but Polk then failed to follow up his actions and capture Paducah, which made holding Columbus irrelevant. After General Grant exploited this fact and forced the withdrawal of the Confederate Army into Tennessee and Mississippi, Lt. General Polk became a corps commander of the Army of the Tennessee under General Braxton Bragg. Unlike Polk, General Bragg was a Regular Army officer with extensive experience and heroism in the Mexican War.
During the Kentucky Campaign, Bragg left Polk in command of the Army while he coordinated with General Kirby Smith. When the Union Army advanced upon them, Polk repeatedly refused Bragg's orders to move and to attack. During the Battle of Stone's River, after Hardee's corps had inflicted a serious assault on the Union lines, Polk's follow up attack was disorganized and piecemeal. As a result, he led what could have been a decisive victory into a disaster. After the battle, Polk, endorsing the advice of his division commanders, recommended to Bragg that the Army withdraw, and heeding his generals' advice he did so. However, after complaints and criticisms arose from politicians and newspapers, Lt. Gen. Polk denied all responsibility for the withdrawal and claimed that it was Bragg's idea the whole time. The Army devolved into gossip and backbiting because Polk was able to use his charm and wit to gain support among the other generals and shift all blame to General Bragg, who was more competent but less personable.
During the Chickamauga campaign, Polk disobeyed orders to attack and destroy and isolated Union corps. Later, during the battle of Chickamauga, his failure to even find his division commanders on the second day led to a very late and poorly coordinate fight the next day, which allowed the North to set up a proper defensive position.
His final major blunder came in 1864, when he found himself in command of the Confederate army in Mississippi while General Johnston defended Georgia. He was ordered to detach a portion of his army and send it to reinforce General Johnston, but instead he decided to send his entire army, including himself. This would have terrible consequences later, for when Gen. Johnston recommended that Gen. Forrest's cavalry be used to strike the Union army's rear, he could not, because his cavalry was the only force left to defend Mississippi from union advances designed to hold him there.
Thus, Lt. General Polk was not only incompetant for diobeying orders and keeping his corps disorganized and undisciplined, but he repeadtedly used his eloquence and personality to avoid the consequences of his actions and disparage other good soldiers.