Meigs fought in the Battle of Piedmont on June 5, although his combat role is not clear. It is known that he reconnoitered the battlefield during the day, and was the one to inform Hunter that a gap in the center of the Confederate lines had only partially been filled by the 60th Virginia Infantry. Hunter quickly took advantage of the gap, and ordered Colonel Joseph Thoburn 2nd Brigade into the gap. Meigs rode back and forth along the line of the 2nd Brigade, urging the men to attack as fiercely as possible. The Army of the Shenandoah won the day.