#Anaconda plan full

The Anaconda Plan consisted of two main objectives: Key Elements in the Anaconda Plan Timeline The Union would have slowly and methodically cut the Confederacy in half by taking the Mississippi river and the rebellion would have withered on the vine from a lack of food and supplies and forced to surrender. Union armies would have taken up defensive positions in the North repelling any Confederate attacks. The south would have been slowly deprived of food and supplies by the Union blockade. Theoretically if the plan was implemented at the start of the war the giant battles fought later in the war may never have happened.

#Anaconda plan full

The other generals wanted to crush the rebellion quickly and permanently as soon as possible.įor an in-depth look at the tactics of the Civil War a great book is the #ad Atlas of the Civil War: A Complete Guide to the Tactics and Terrain of BattleĬomplacent or not, the plan, if allowed full implementation and support from Northern military commanders would have saved many lives.Ĭreator of the Anaconda Plan General Winfield Scott during the Civil War General Scott’s plan would require patience and time. They wanted to attack the south and defeat them with the Union’s overwhelming military and industrial might. Pretty much all of the Union commanders disliked this plan and referred to it as being too complacent. His problem was convincing fellow Union commanders that this was a good idea. The problem General Scott had with his idea wasn’t the rebels. General Scott’s Anaconda Plan was a very passive way of defeating the Confederacy. It was a humanitarian way of defeating the rebellion as opposed to invading the south with massive numbers of troops, killing, burning and capturing everything in sight. It was important because the strategic plan would have eventually ended the Civil War, ideally with minimal casualties on both sides. The plan was developed by General Winfield Scott at the beginning of the Civil War following the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter on April 12th 1861. The plan was carried through and the first three parts were the most decisive factors of the war.The Anaconda Plan drawn in 1861 Who Developed the Anaconda Plan Capture Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.Divide the South by capturing the Tennessee River Valley and marching through Georgia to the coast.Divide the South by controlling the Mississippi River to cut the South off from the west.Blockade the coast of the South to prevent the export of cotton, tobacco, and other cash crops from the South and to keep them from importing much needed war supplies.

The plan was adopted in 1862, involving 4 main parts:

The Anaconda Plan was drawn up to end the Civil War in favor of the Union. It was the press that actually renamed Scott’s “boa-constrictor” plan after a different constricting snake, the anaconda. The plan was not very favorable among the nation who wanted war rather than diplomacy. It was his belief that sympathy for secession was not as strong as it appeared and that isolation and pressure would make the “fire-eaters” back down and allow calmer heads to take control.

Then, he believed, Union troops should stop, waiting for Southern Union sympathizers to turn on their Confederate governors and compel them to surrender. Scott presented it to President Abraham Lincoln proposing that 60,000 troops move down the Mississippi with gunboats until they had secured the river from Cairo, Ill., to the Gulf, which, in concert with an effective blockade, would seal off the South. Scott’s “boa-constrictor” plan would build a “Blockade” of Southern ports a strong thrust down the Mississippi Valley with a large force, and the establishment of a line of strong Federal positions there would isolate the disorganized Confederate nation “and bring it to terms.” Union General-in-Chief Winfield Scott brought a military strategic plan to the table for President Abraham Lincoln that would crush the rebellion of Southern states.