The Anaconda Plan: The North’s Plan to Slowly Squeeze the Life out of the Confederate War Machine

1. The Anaconda Plan: The North’s Plan to Slowly Squeeze the Life out of the Confederate War Machine Part Two was to capture the vital Mississippi River which would cut the South in half and also allow Union forces to use the waterway as a highway to funnel resources South Part one of the plan called for a naval blockade of all Southern Ports which would hinder the Southern Economy. Part Three was to use the Mississippi River to move east and attack the Confederacy from two sides at the same time General Winfield Scott came up with the plan early in the war but he could never implement it because he retired soon after the war began.

2. Effects of the Anaconda Plan Part One of the plan succeeded in starving the Southern economy. The blockade prevented any traditional transportation boats from outrunning the blockade. As a result, the South had to make blockade runners which were designed for speed and not for cargo capacity. While 5 out of 6 blockade runners outran the blockade, it was not enough to save the Confederacy. Perhaps the biggest influence of the blockade was to discourage any other attempt to sell goods overseas. Cotton was the South’s main export and therefore the main source of revenue.. The exportation of cotton rapidly decreased 95% compared to the period before the war. This lead to a high inflation rate which hurt the economy and it also caused the South to overuse and slowly rundown their railroads. PartThreeOf the plan was to move East and attack the Confederates from two sides. While the war was raging between Washington and Richmond, the Union began to slowly push their way into the deep South. The Confederacy was put in a challenging position because it had to try and defend its borders against Union advances in the West and it also had to defend Richmond. The very large concentration of Union troops around Washington forced the Confederacy to station a very large number of resources and men around Richmond in order to match the Union forces across the Potomac. This is why a lot of the battles in the East were stalemates or not really that decisive and also why neither side was able to swiftly end the war by capturing the opposing capital. Meanwhile, the Western campaign was full of decisive Union victories from Ft. Donleson to Shiloh to the fall of Atlanta. With supplies and all possible reinforcements cut off, Richmond was essentially on its own and finally surrendered on April 3 1865. Lee’s army was shortly defeated and surrendered at Appomattox Court house on April 9, 1865 thus ending the Civil War. Part Two of the plan also succeeded in cutting the Sout in half and depriving it of the vital Mississippi River. Captain David Farragut sailed up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico and quickly captured New Orleans in April 1862. He than began to go up river from there until reaching the fort at Vicksburg while halted him. Meanwhile, the Union had moved down the river from the North, capturing the forts that tried to guard the river until they got to Vicksburg. Vicksburg held out until it surrendered in July 1863. This led to a full control of the Mississippi River and the North began to move men down it in order to attack the South from the West. This move also cut off all supplies, men and support for the Confederacy from all h of the states west of the Mississippi. Map by:Jespersen, Hal. "Hal Jespersen's Cartography Services - American Civil War Maps." Hal Jespersen's Cartography Services - American Civil War Maps. http://www.cwmaps.com (accessed November 16, 2012). image- Davis, Will . "The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar." The Virginia Center for Digital History at The University of Virginia. http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/civilwar/index.php?section=Exhibits&page=War50_60 (accessed November 16, 2012). US Navy Department, Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series I: 27 volumes. Series II: 3 volumes. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894-1922.