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.”

A Running Eleven Mile Fight

The Battle of Okolona was fought February 22nd 1864 in Chickasaw County, Mississippi.


Union General William Sooy Smith left Memphis, Tennessee with about 7,000 men to connect with the Union army stationed at Meridian, Mississippi under the command of Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman. Meridian was a railroad center. After delaying his march by ten days Smith ran into Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forest’s cavalry on February 21st 1864. A fight between the two forces began on the prairie south of Okolona, on February 22nd 1864. The Union troops constructed barriers around their positions. Forest made frontal and flanking attacks, cutting gaps in the Union line. When Forest received reinforcements the Union troops were routed with five cannons being left behind. Union forces made a stand on a ridge, bringing on a series of attacks, at which time Forest’s brother Jeffrey Forest was shot and killed. Smith’s Union soldiers began a running fight of eleven miles.

Forest ordered an end to the pursuit because he was running low on ammunition. Smith’s soldiers escaped over the state line back into Tennessee at Collierville on February 26th 1864, where he was criticized for screwing up Sherman’s Meridian Expedition. Smith resigned from the army and returned to his civilian life. There were about a 150 casualties, about 100 for the Union and 50 for the Confederates.