Sheridan's men began to burn Dayton. Local townspeople pleaded for them to stop, and Union soldiers often helped them carry belongings out of the house before setting fire to it. Sheridan then ordered the burning of Dayton stopped. His motive is unclear, although both citizens of the town and his own subordinates asked him to rescind the order. Instead, Sheridan ordered that homes and barns around the area where Meigs died be burned, and all able-bodied men in the area were arrested as prisoners of war.