| At the beginning of the Civil War, President Lincoln | | | | country would not blockade it’s own ports. |
| gathered his generals together as he wanted to | | | | Lincoln had, so far, been successful in avoiding this by |
| come up with a plan to get the southern states back | | | | calling the war nothing but the quelling of a rebellion. |
| in the Union. The supreme commander of the Union | | | | Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, was |
| Army, General Winfield Scott, devised a strategy | | | | concerned that the Anaconda Plan might give foreign |
| that would come to be called the Anaconda Plan. | | | | countries the opportunity to extend to the |
| General Scott was from Virginian and thought that a | | | | Confederacy full diplomatic relations thus opening the |
| large percentage of Southerners wanted to be part | | | | South to foreign trade. This blockade could also |
| of a united Union therefore he wanted to rebuild the | | | | cause problems with countries attempting to engage |
| union with a strategic policy that called for as little | | | | in commerce with The Confederate States of |
| blood shed as possible. General Scott’s plan called | | | | America. |
| for a complete blockade of the Southern states by | | | | The Union put the Anaconda Plan into action and it |
| the Union Navy. | | | | was to be a major part of the North’s strategy |
| The Anaconda Plan was named for the South | | | | going forward. Secretary Welles was to assume the |
| American anaconda; a snake that kills it’s prey | | | | responsibility of the putting into place and maintaining |
| by constriction and strangulation. Strangling the South | | | | the blockade as well as building a fleet of ships |
| to defeat by cutting of vital supplies from the | | | | necessary to complete the ambitious plan. To do this |
| outside was the basis for Scott's plan. The plan made | | | | he took the Union Navy from having only 82 ships in |
| sense but was ambitious to say the least. General | | | | early 1861 to 264 ships by the end of the year. The |
| Scott called for the blockading of the more than | | | | US Navy would have a fleet of over 600 Naval |
| 3,500 miles of coast line from Virginia to Mexico and | | | | vessels by the end of the war. |
| up the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Depending | | | | The effect the Anaconda Plan had on the outcome |
| on this strategy would require a great deal of | | | | of the Civil War is a matter that has caused much |
| patience and would only work over time and with the | | | | discussion. The blockade enforced on the |
| supplies on hand, the South could hold out for a good | | | | Confederacy by the Union Navy certainly has to be a |
| while. | | | | consideration in the South’s loss. The James |
| President Lincoln knew that adopting such a plan | | | | River, as being the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, |
| could have world wide diplomatic repercussions that | | | | was equally important to the North and South and |
| could cause the Union problems. The Anaconda Plan | | | | the Union’s ability to hold Fort Monroe as a result |
| would essentially be giving the Confederacy | | | | of the blockade could certainly be seen as a deciding |
| recognition as a legitimate country as surly no | | | | factor in the war. |