The Anaconda Plan Essay example -- essays research papers

The Anaconda Plan At the onset of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln met with his planetarys to devise a strategy by which the rebellious states of the league could be brought back into the sum. General Winfield Scott, commanding general of the Union army, proposed a plan of battle that became known as the Anaconda Plan. General Winfield Scott, commanding general of the Union ArmyFrom the Collections ofThe Mariners Museum General Scott, a native Virginian, believed that the majority of Southerners desired a cut union with the United States. In order to restore the Union with as little bloodshed as possible, he favored a relatively nonaggressive policy. The primary strategy of Scotts plan was to create a complete naval blockade of the Southern states. Named for the South American snake that kills its prey by strangulation, Scotts plan was to strangle the South into submission by cutting its supplement lines to the outside world. The plan was sound, but ambitious. For the p lan to succeed, it would be necessary to blockade more than 3,500 miles of coast from Virginia to Mexico and up the Mississippi from New Orleans to New capital of Spain Bend. And the Anaconda Plan could only succeed over time the South would not starve overnight, so patience was an essential part of Scotts strategy. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, ground forcesFrom the Collections ofThe Mariners Museum By adopting the Anaconda Plan, Lincoln ran the risk of committing diplomatic suicide. Sin...