Hannah Hamilton Mr. Burkey 11 December 2015 U.S. History The Anaconda Plan The civil war is one of the most important wars in history because it had shaped our country into what it is today. The Union faced numerous hardships and obstacles throughout individual battles. What was key to the Union winning the civil war over the Confederates were the tactics and strategies they used. One such strategy was called the Anaconda Plan and it got this specific name due to its constricting mannerisms. The Anaconda Plan originated from one of the most recognized American generals in U.S. history, Winfield Scott. He started off by joining the military in 1808 and became an artillery captain shortly afterward. Slowly, but surely he continued rising through …show more content…
Previous tactics the Union used resulted in bloody combat with numerous casualties, so they decided to go along with setting up a blockade. To accomplish this, the Union army started seizing cities near the Mississippi River to start cutting the Confederacy into two. One such victory was lead by Ulysses S. Grant, who took control of Vicksburg on July 4th 1863. Another important victory took place as "General William Tecumseh Sherman led his army on a rampage through the south during his march to the sea in 1864 depriving the south of vital food and materials as he and his men destroyed or captured anything that stood in their way."*** These two victories enabled the Union to have the upper hand. The Confederates had no choice but to take on the defensive side to prevent further invasion. Although the Union was starting to constrict the Confederates of their supplies, they hadn't taken into consideration the vast 3000 miles of coastline they needed to guard. Eventually, a meeting was to be taken place at the Blockade Strategy Board to decipher what the Union's next step should be. Taking certain points into consideration, it was decided that a blockade for the Atlantic was beneficial, and a blockade for the Gulf of Mexico was put off for the time being. For the Atlantic Blockade to be set in motion, the blockading steamboat ships had a limited endurance on coal, so a coaling station