Battle of Meridian

Meridian Campaign
Part of the American Civil War
Date February 14, 1864 (1864-02-14)–February 20, 1864 (1864-02-20) Location Lauderdale County, Mississippi 32°21′55″N 88°42′15″W / 32.3654°N 88.7043°W / 32.3654; -88.7043Coordinates: 32°21′55″N 88°42′15″W / 32.3654°N 88.7043°W / 32.3654; -88.7043 Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
William T. Sherman	Leonidas Polk
Units involved
Army of the Tennessee	Department of Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana
Strength
26,847	Unknown
Casualties and losses
170	Unknown

The Meridian Campaign took place from February 3–28, 1864, from Vicksburg, Mississippi to Meridian, 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 prelude 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.

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.

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