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SUB CW. You're going to do. Oh, Hey everyone. Welcome to episode number 458 of our Civil War podcast. I'm

Rich and I'm Tracy. Hello y'all thanks for tuning into the podcast. As y'all will recall with the last two shows, we've given some

background to William to come to Sherman's Meridian raid, and we've also discussed the evolution in Sherman's thinking regarding how to prosecute the war.

And now with this show, we'll look at the raid itself.

Meridian was about 130 miles due to itself. would seem an insignificant spec on the map, except that it was a major rail hub.

These were crucial railroads that the Confederates used to move troops and transport vast amounts of supplies.

So it's no wonder Sherman saw Meridian as a prize well worth taking.

If he could lay waste to the place like his men had done to Jackson in July 1863, he believed it would not only hinder future rebel operations in Mississippi, but would also be a blow to the larger Confederate war effort.

Sherman intended to make the march right across the state of Mississippi and then back,

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