Battle of Okolona

Description: From Vicksburg, Mississippi, Sherman launched a campaign to take the important railroad center at Meridian, Mississippi, and if the situation were favorable, to push on to Selma, Alabama, and threaten Mobile. Sherman ordered Brig. Gen. William Sooy Smith to lead a cavalry force of 7,000 men from Memphis, Tennessee, on February 1, 1864, south through Okolona, along the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, and to meet the rest of the Union force at Meridian, on February 10. With the main force of approximately 20,000 men, Sherman set out on the 3rd for Meridian, but made feints on various other locations. Against orders, Smith delayed ten days, while waiting for reinforcements, and did not start out until February 11. Destroying crops and railroad track along the way, Smith’s force met almost no opposition, and, before long, 1,000 former slaves were traveling with them. Smith was supposed to rendezvous with Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman at Meridian on the 10th, but he never arrived there. Sherman left Meridian on the 20th, due in part to apprehension over Smith’s whereabouts. Smith neared West Point, 90 miles north of Meridian, on the 20th, and he fought with Confederate cavalry units at Prairie Station and Aberdeen. Smith—knowing that Nathan Bedford Forrest commanded the troops he was fighting, concerned about the fate of the former slaves with him, and not knowing how many of the enemy he faced—decided to concentrate at Prairie Station, and, on the morning of the 21st, he set out for West Point. Shortly after dawn on the 21st, Col. Jeffrey Forrest’s Confederate cavalry brigade engaged Smith. Withdrawing at times, Forrest drew Smith into a swamp west of the Tombigbee River. Other Rebel troops arrived and the fighting intensified. Smith was sure that this was a trap set for him, and, discerning that he was greatly outnumbered, he ordered a retreat, leaving a rearguard. The rearguard held off the Confederates for about two hours before withdrawing in good order. Abo...

The Battle of Okolona took place on February 22, 1864, in Chickasaw County, Mississippi, between Confederate and Union forces during the American Civil War. Confederate cavalry, commanded by Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, faced 7,000 cavalry under the command of Brig. Gen. William Sooy Smith and defeated them at Okolona, causing 100 casualties for the loss of 50.

Smith's force had been ordered to set off from Memphis, Tennessee, and rendezvous with the main Union army of 20,000 that was stationed at Meridian, Mississippi, and was under the command of Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. However, Smith disobeyed orders[1] and delayed his march for ten days. When he eventually left, he encountered the Confederate cavalry force on February 21, and on February 22 was engaged in a running battle across eleven miles with Forrest's forces. With Confederate reinforcements, Forrest routed Smith but did not pursue due to lack of ammunition, and Smith limped over the state line to Tennessee on February 26, where he was criticized for putting Sherman's Meridian Expedition in danger.