The Anaconda Plan Essay example -- essays research papers

The anaconda Plan At the onset of the courtly War, President Abraham Lincoln met with his generals to devise a dodging by which the seditious states of the Confederacy could be brought back into the marrow. full general Winfield Scott, commanding general of the Union army, proposed a forge 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 aboriginal 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 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 halter the South into submission by cutting its supply lines to the outside world. The plan was sound, but a mbitious. For the plan to succeed, it would be necessary to blockade more than 3,500 miles of beach from Virginia to Mexico and up the Mississippi from New Orleans to New Madrid Bend. And the Anaconda Plan could only succeed over time the South would non starve overnight, so patience was an essential part of Scotts strategy. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, the StatesFrom the Collections ofThe Mariners Museum By adopting the Anaconda Plan, Lincoln ran the risk of committing diplomatic suicide. Sin...