Founded January 6, 1858, under a charter granting perpetual direction by the Episcopal Church in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, the University of the South had its cornerstone for the central building laid nearby by Leonidas Polk, Bishop of Louisiana, later Lieutenant General, C.S.A., on October 10, 1860, before the building was destroyed by Federal troops in July 1863.