Anaconda Plan
The Anaconda Plan was used during the American Civil War to "squeeze" the life out of pro-slavery Southern states. General Winfield Scott proposed the plan.
Details
The plan began with blockading Southern ports.[1] Next the Union Army would advance down the Mississippi River, cutting the South in two.[1] Like the coils of an anaconda snake suffocating its victim, the Union Army would squeeze the South until it returned to the Union.[1]
President Lincoln approved the plan.[1] Some Northern generals, newspapers, and people made fun of it.[2] After a year of bloody fighting, it was finally put into operation.[2]
Anaconda Plan Media
Battle of Vicksburg, by Kurz and Allison
USS Kanawha cutting out a blockade runner at the entrance to Mobile Bay
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 James M. McPherson, 'Lincoln and the Strategy of Unconditional Surrender', The Best American History Essays on Lincoln, eds. Sean Wilentz; Organization of American Historians (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), p. 215
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Michael Lanning, Civil War 100: The Stories Behind the Most Influential Battles, People and Events in the War Between the States (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2006), p. 103
