After the 1863 Vicksburg campaign, Union forces under General William Tecumseh Sherman turned eastward toward the city to begin what would later be called the Battle of Meridian. Because of several feints and other confusing maneuvers performed by Sherman, Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk, leader of Confederate troops in the city, was convinced Sherman was headed not for Meridian but for Mobile, Alabama, so he decided to fall back to Demopolis, Alabama, and prepare for a rear attack, leaving the city and its surrounding territory to the mercy of the enemy.