The Anaconda Plan In 1861

The challenges that the Union and the Confederacy faced during the Civil War were very different. Critical weaknesses that seemed unfit for war, plagued the opposing American forces, and would serve to be a continuous obstacle that would need to be conquered by patriotism of the people, for their opposing views. To allow for both sides to be competitive, the efforts put forth had to mold to the varied needs of the armies by both the civilian population and their militaries. To the people in the south the similarity to the colonists in the Revolutionary War, was assimilated to their separatist cause in the Civil War and would be their drive to compete with the dominating Northern states. This mindset started the Confederacy in the Civil

In 1861, the United States was no longer united and its people were at war, in what is commonly known as the American Civil War. This left President Abraham Lincoln in a tight spot on how to go about dealing with the Southern states that had seceded, the Confederacy, who were now at war with the Northern states, the Union. Lincoln met with his generals to devise a strategy by which the Confederate states could be brought back into the Union. General Winfield Scott, commanding general of the Union army, proposed one plan of battle that he had earlier proposed to Major-General George B. McClellan. His plan came to be known as the Anaconda plan. This plan, although it was never technically adopted, ended up being extremely successful and

At the beginning of the war the Union thought it would be an easy, quick war. The Union leaders at this time had no actual plan for the war. General Scott saw this and came up with the Anaconda plan. Scott considered the war a strategy game, and would attack and penetrate the enemy 's forces without destroying all of their troops; focusing mainly on victory. At the beginning of the war Scott, unlike others, thought that the war would be over in more than two years. The war ended in four years. The term Anaconda plan came from Northern press trying to explain Scotts plan. Many people thought that Scotts plan was too passive and difficult. The Union’s effort in the civil war increased greatly on April 19, 1861. At this point Abraham Lincoln created a naval blockade, a system of ships that stops all imports and exports, on the Confederate coastline. This blockade stretched from the Rio Grande to the Chesapeake Bay. At this time Lincoln’s argument was that the Confederacy had no right to secede. Creating this blockade allowed the National warships to attack privateers. Privateers are privately owned and run warships. These ships were used to take the Union’s trade ships. Getting rid of the privateers meant that the Union could transport goods easier. Scott 's anaconda plan needed the Union’s army and navy to surround the Confederacy. After encompassing the Confederacy the army and navy would tighten in, and effectively strangle the South. This contained two

As the Civil War continued in 1863 Lincoln Had announced his plan called the Ten-Percent Plan of Reconstruction. The main goal of the plan was to abolish slavery by getting ten percent of the voters to take the oath, so that when the ten percent was reached they could elect a new state government, which would abolish slavery. In the textbook it states "Lincoln's plan offered no role to blacks in shaping the post-slavery order." There was only select few states that took this oath and those states were Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas. All of these events has started to take place after the victories at the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863, Lincoln felt as If the south had never truly succeeded into the union. Lincoln agreed that

Many questions emerged after the end of the Civil War. The two most common questions were: “How do we put the South back into the Union” and “What do we do with the free slaves?” The Reconstruction Era is known for its two parts. The first would be the Presidential Plan of Reconstruction and the other would be the Congressional Plan of Reconstruction. The Presidential Plan was proposed by Abraham Lincoln but was enacted by President Andrew Johnson. The plan consisted of ways on how to rebuild the South. This plan was also known as the Ten Percent Plan because the Union will take the certain amount of voters in a Confederate state, at least ten percent of voters from the 1860 Election, to come back to the United States. The Presidential Plan came to an end and then came the Congressional Plan of Reconstruction, which was also known as the Fifty Percent Plan, exactly like the Ten Percent Plan. The only difference is that the Fifty Percent Plan was much more strict. Not only did a Confederate state need at least fifty percent of voters from the 1860 Election but they also needed to rewrite state Constitutions that must be

In 1863, “a great civil war” (Lincoln, 1863) was raging across the land and seas of the North American continent. Union and Confederate forces were locked in a deadly struggle for control of America’s future. Yet, despite the Union’s undeniable logistical and infrastructural advantages over the Confederacy, the war was not progressing in favour of the Union. The Confederate generals had managed to outsmart and outmaneuver the Union armies repeatedly, dealing defeat after defeat to the North, greatly demoralizing the populace. As such, the Confederates, who were fighting not to conquer the Union, but rather to survive, were inching

Each general that was appointed commander of the army in the east had his own plans when it came to defeating the Confederates. Beginning with McDowell, the first general to command a large army in the war, the task seemed

First, this part of the plan was a battle to forcefully occupy Richmond, Virginia, the political, military capital of the Confederacy. Second, a battle known as the Seven Days’ Battles took place in Richmond, Virginia from June 25, 1862, to July 1, 1862. Third The Union's army in this battle was led by George B. McClellan, while the South was led by Robert E. Lee. Robert E. Lee is regarded as a military genius and was recruited by both the Confederacy and The Union. Fourth, the United States wanted Richmond because it was the heart of the Confederacy. Without Richmond, the Confederacy might cease to exist. However, The Union failed to capture the Confederates capital. Despite the South suffering heavier casualties, McClellan's army was forced to

General Scott, a native Virginian, believed that the majority of Southerners desired a complete 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 Scott's plan was to create a complete

There is always strategy involved or else all is lost to the opponent. “Despite the defeat at Peach Tree Creek, Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood still had hopes of driving William Sherman’s Yankees from the outskirts of Atlanta with an offensive blow.” ("The Battle of Atlanta Summary & Facts") During the battle, John Hood wanted to push the union out of Atlanta. He planned a fifteen mile hike, then a flank attack that would be carried out by Hardee and his men. Hardee’s army ended up off schedule because of the poor conditions of his troops, but he still carried out the attack.("The Battle of Atlanta Summary & Facts") “The battle is not only known for its strategic and military significance but for its political importance.” ("Battle Of Atlanta") The Union had the luck of the day, because McPherson predicted the attack and accidentally placed his army to meet right with Hardee’s troops. The attack by the Confederates had failed, thankfully because of McPherson’s quick thinking. “The victory greatly increased northern morale…” ("Battle Of Atlanta") Without this event during the Battle of Atlanta the Union might had never won. In the end of it all, out of all the soldiers, 74,000 did not walk out of the campaign alive. The Union, once again, was victorious. Though Hood’s strategy was tricky and well thought out, McPherson and his troops, as well as Sherman, were blessed with luck and

With McClellan aware of Lee’s plan, as outlined in “Special Orders 191,” he assumed the offensive weeks earlier than Lee expected. As such, the Army of Virginia assumed a defensive posture in order to consolidate its divided forces and protect its lines of communication. Given this turn of fate, Lee would not resume his strategic offensive and therefore was unable to threaten the Union capital in hopes of dictating peace on his terms. Although, the Union desired a decisive victory to end the war, McClellan remained reserved throughout the campaign and focused his efforts on the immediate issue of stopping Lee’s invasion and defending the nation’s capital while preserving his forces for future operations. Nonetheless, the Union victory rendered Washington safe and signaled a turning point in the war as it eliminated hopes of British support to the Confederacy and allowed President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation

The Civil War was not the defeat of a hopeless rebellion. The Confederates had legitimate opportunity to win independence, but they failed to capitalize on it. The South’s chances at victory were not remote; rather they could expect to win. The ultimate cause of the South’s failure was a lack of aggression in all aspects. The two times the Confederates attacked the North at Antietam and Gettysburg, the results were catastrophic because of a lack of strategy. An offensive plan of war does not necessarily mean charging right at an opponent, who in this case had more than three times the number of men as the Confederates. Rather, an effective form of offense would be to attack northern factories, farms, and cities. This would damage the

At the beginning of the war, President Lincoln was very concerned at how the country was actually doing when he finally entered the White House. The fractured government was worse than what he accepted to see. Fort Sumter was captured and the Civil War was declared on April 12, 1861, but the first battle would not take place until July at the First Bull Run. It was said this was when Lincoln know this was going to be a long war. The Union army was not doing or showing any true movement in concluding the war. He was so upset with his General; Gen McClellan that he starts to read about military warfare to get to understand what can be done. He issues a General War Order that calls for his troops to advance by George Washington’s birthday. Out

Among those leaders was former President Abraham Lincoln whose plan was '' The Lincoln's plan'' and to abolish slavery. His plan clearly stated that after meeting certain criteria, confederate state could return to the

From 1861-1865 the Civil War was fought to determine the survival of the independent Confederacy. In January 1861, seven Southern slave states seceded from the United States of America to create the Confederate States of America ("Civil War Academy American Civil War"). The twenty three states that remained loyal were called the Union. War was declared on April 12, 1861 between the North and South due to the controversial issue of slavery and its extension in Western territories. Following the first attack on April 12, 1861 at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, Union General Winfield Scott proposed the Anaconda plan to defeat the South. Instead of attacking the South with a vast number of troops and killing everyone in sight, this three-part plan aimed to fight the rebellion in a more humane way, with least amount of casualties possible. The strategy of the plan was to use the Navy to blockade Southern ports to prevent imports/exports, control the Mississippi River, splitting the confederacy in two, and to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, VA. Although the Anaconda plan was not directly successful, it led to similar approaches by Union Generals McClellan, Sherman, and Grant.