Battle of Meridian The Battle of Meridian was fought February 14 – 20 , 1864 , in Lauderdale County , Mississippi , by the Union Army of the Tennessee , led by Maj . Gen . William Tecumseh Sherman . Sherman captured Meridian , Mississippi , inflicting heavy damage to it . The campaign is viewed by historians as a prequel to Sherman ' s March to the Sea ( Savannah Campaign ) in that a large swath of damage and destruction was inflicted on Central Mississippi as Sherman marched across the state and back . Background . After the 1863 Vicksburg Campaign , in which the Union army of Maj . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant succeeded in capturing Vicksburg and burning the state capital of Jackson , Union forces under Sherman turned eastward toward Meridian . Meridian was an important railroad center and was home to a Confederate arsenal , military hospital , and prisoner - of - war stockade , as well as the headquarters for a number of state offices . Sherman planned to take Meridian and , if the situation was favorable , push on to Selma , Alabama , and possibly even threaten Mobile . While Sherman set out on February 3 , 1864 , with the main force of 20 , 000 men from Vicksburg , he ordered Brig . Gen . William Sooy Smith to lead a cavalry force of 7 , 000 men from Memphis , Tennessee , south through Okolona , Mississippi , along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to meet the rest of the Union force at Meridian . March to Meridian . To counter the threat , Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered troops to the area from other localities . The Confederate commander in the area , Lt . Gen . Leonidas Polk , consolidated a number of commands in and around Morton , Mississippi , but lost his nerve and retreated rapidly eastward . On the journey towards Meridian , Sherman ordered several feint s into other regions of the state to keep Polk guessing about Sherman ' s true point of attack . Sherman also asked Maj . Gen . Nathaniel Banks , Union commander of the Department of the Gulf at New Orleans , Louisiana , to have boats maneuvering in Mobile Bay as if they were preparing to attack . Doing this forced the Confederates to keep troops from leaving Mobile to aid Meridian in case of an attack on the gulf . To further confuse Polk , Sherman sent gunboat s and infantry up the Yazoo River to divert his attention . Cavalry units commanded by Maj . Gen . Stephen D . Lee periodically skirmished with Sherman ' s force . As Sherman approached Meridian , he met stiffer resistance from the combined forces but steadily moved on . Polk finally realized that he could not stop Sherman and was convinced he was headed not for Meridian but for Mobile , so he decided to evacuate Meridian on February 14 , fall back to Demopolis , Alabama , and prepare to launch a rear attack , leaving Meridian and its surrounding territory to the mercy of the enemy . While evacuating , Polk and his army began removing some railroad rolling stock to McDowell ' s Bluff . Smith ' s troubles . Smith never reached Meridian ; he and his troops met Confederate resistance led by Maj . Gen . Nathan Bedford Forrest at West Point , Mississippi . Forrest and his army forced Smith to begin to retreat to Tennessee . When Forrest saw Smith ' s army retreating , he ordered his troops to chase the army down . Forrest caught Smith and his troops in Okolona , Mississippi , and forced them to retreat more rapidly after a defeat in the Battle of Okolona on February 22 , 1864 , which ultimately resulted in General Sherman ' s entire left flank being eliminated during the campaign . Destruction of Meridian . Sherman ' s army reached Meridian on February 14 , 1864 , still unaware of Smith ' s defeats at West Point and Okolona . Sherman decided to continue waiting for Smith in Meridian until the morning of February 20 , when he gave up and returned to Vicksburg . While he and his army were waiting , Sherman ordered his troops " to wipe the appointed meeting place off the map " by destroying the railroads and burning much of the area to the ground . Sherman ' s troops destroyed of railroad , 61 bridges , of trestle work , 20 locomotives , 28 steam car s , and 3 steam sawmills . After the troops departed , inhabitants of the city were without food for some days , but the soldiers had not directly inflicted any personal injuries during the attack . After the destruction of Meridian , Sherman is reported to have said , " Meridian with its depots , store - houses , arsenal , hospitals , offices , hotels , and cantonments no longer exists . " When Sherman left Meridian , heading west by way of Canton , Mississippi , he was still unaware of Smith ' s defeats , so he began looking for Smith and his force . He did not discover what happened to Smith until he arrived back at Vicksburg . Sherman had destroyed some important Confederate transportation facilities but had to abandon his aspirations for continuing into Alabama .