Then, he believed, Union troops should stop, waiting for Southern Union sympathizers to turn on their Confederate governors and compel them to surrender. Scott then presented it to the president, in greater detail, proposing that 60,000 troops move down the Mississippi with gunboats until they had secured the river from Cairo, Ill., to the Gulf, which, in concert with an effective blockade, would seal off the South. McClellan, that he believed an effective "Blockade" of Southern ports, a strong thrust down the Mississippi Valley with a large force, and the establishment of a line of strong Federal positions there would isolate the disorganized Confederate nation "and bring it to terms."Ĭontemporary sources said McClellan called it Scott's "boa-constrictor" plan. These men used a version of the Anaconda Plan to eventually win the war against the Confederacy.About May 3rd, Scott told his protégé, Maj. Though the Plan was rejected, it was later revisited by Ulysses S. This would secure the river down to the naval blockade, dividing the South in half and establishing communications lines between the ships and the North. The Anaconda Plan would move 60,000 Union soldiers in 40 steamboats and 20 gunboats down the Mississippi River, capturing forts and towns along the way. While the North was very industrialized and relied on railroads, the South still primarily used boats. This river was the main transportation method in the South. The economy would be crippled, and the Confederacy would soon run out of resources. in doing so, the South's trade would be cut off. The Anaconda Plan hoped to establish a naval blockade on the Confederacy's Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico ports. The South relied heavily on trade with European powers, particularly Britain and France. There were two basic objectives, as can be seen in the image. They preferred to crush the South with the North's sheer numbers, as opposed to the Anaconda Plan, which would minimize losses but required patience. The strategy was never fully implemented, as Scott's fellow generals thought it was too passive. The plan would isolate the South from the outside world, preventing trade, limiting transportation, and reducing resources. At the beginning of the war, General Winfield Scott designed the Anaconda Plan to achieve a Union win.
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