Sherman Ordered Town Destroyed

The Battle of Meridian was fought February 14^th through the 20^th 1864 in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, with Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman inflicting a great deal of damage to the town.

Following the Union victory at Vicksburg and the burning of the Mississippi state capital, Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman turned his forces east toward Meridian, Mississippi.  Meridian was home to a Confederate arsenal, prison of war camp, hospital and a railroad center.  The Union plan was to take Meridian and then move onto Selma and Mobile, Alabama.

About 20,000 Union troops under Sherman moved out from Vicksburg on February 3^rd 1864 and another 7,000 cavalry under Brigadier General William Sooy Smith left from Memphis, Tennessee traveling along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad.  The two forces were supposed to meet at Meridian.

Confederate Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk merged his troops near Morton, Mississippi.   Sherman made some feints to keep Polk guessing about his real target.  Confederate Calvary under Major General Stephen D Lee skirmished with the Union troops as they moved toward Meridian.  When Polk realized that Sherman was moving on Meridian he evacuated on February 14^th 1864 falling back to Demopolis, Alabama, to launch an attack into the Union rear.

Smith didn’t make it to Meridian as he ran into Confederate troops led by Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest at West Point, Mississippi, and was forced to retreat into Tennessee.  Sherman’s army in Meridian didn’t know about Smith’s retreat and he waited in Meridian until February 20^th 1864.  Deciding at that point to move back to Vicksburg, Sherman ordered that Meridian be destroyed.  The Union troops burned and tore up 115 miles of track, 61 bridges, 20 trains, and 3 sawmills.  The Union troops left the city without any food, Sherman said that “Meridian with its depots, store-houses, arsenal, hospitals, offices, hotels, and cantonments no longer exists.”

May As Well Lose Them Here

The opening engagement of the Vicksburg Campaign, the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou was fought December 26^th through the 29^th of 1862.

Union Major General Ulysses S Grant started a campaign in November 1862 to capture the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.  He spilt his army of 70,000 men into two wings, commanding one himself and placing the other under Major General William Tecumseh Sherman.  Sherman wing was authorized as the XV Corps of the Army of the Tennessee on December 22^nd 1862.  He organized his troops into four divisions under Brigadier Generals George W Morgan, Andrew Jackson Smith, Morgan L Smith and Frederick Steele.  Sherman’s men disembarked on the Yazoo River at Johnson’s Plantation on December 24^th 1862

On December 26^th 1862 Sherman deployed three brigades to make a reconnaissance of the Confederate defenses around Chickasaw Bayou.  The ground was ruff and swampy.  They skirmished with Confederate Stephen D Lee’s men.

Sherman ordered an artillery attack on December 29^th 1862 to weaken Confederate defenses.  It went on for about four hour, but didn’t do much damage.  At about 11 am the Union troops deployed into lines of battle.  Sherman knew it was going to be hard fighting and said, "We will lose 5,000 men before we take Vicksburg, and may as well lose them here as anywhere else."

The assault started at noon.  Union troops crossed water barriers and other obstacles, moving forward against the Confederates by the force of sheer numbers.  Once they reached the main Confederate line and came under heavy fire the Union line began to crumble.  Sherman’s men fell back on a corduroy bridge.  Confederate General Lee made a counterattack, capturing a number of battle flags and 332 Union soldiers.

After another day of fighting Sherman decided fighting more in the same location would be pointless.  The Union saw 1,776 casualties.

Protect The Supplies

The Battle of Tupelo Mississippi on July 14th 1864 ensured that General William Tecumseh Sherman’s supply lines were safe.

Major General A J Smith with more 14,000 Union soldiers left LaGrange Tennessee on July 5th 1864. His order was to protect the lines Major General William T Sherman’s Atlanta campaign. Having laid waist to the country as he advanced, July 13th 1864 found Smith moving east toward Tupelo MI.

In the mean time Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry, with about 6000 men and Lieutenant General Stephen D Lee with another 2,000 were with in two miles of Smith‘s Union force. The Confederates attacked on the morning of July 14th 1864. Lee’s assaults weren’t well coordinated and the Federal troops pushed them back inflicting large casualties on Rebels.

With the Union troops running short on supplies, Smith did not pursue Lee and Forrest. He headed back to Memphis on the 15th. Smith has been criticized for not destroying the Confederate command. He had, however fulfilled his orders and protected Sherman’s supply lines.