MAY 21, 1861:
“Scott’s
Anaconda.” General Winfield Scott announces his “Anaconda Plan” to strangle the
South, not just by blockade (which has been in effect since immediately
following Fort Sumter), but by a series of strategic steps including the
seizure of ports along the Confederate coastline and the capture of the
Mississippi River.
The plan meets with enthusiasm in the North and ultimately
helps to win the war, but in 1861-1862 the Union Navy has neither the manpower
nor the gross tonnage to effectively implement the plan.
Plus, the Confederate
coastline stretches for thousands of miles from the mouth of the Rio Grande to
the mouth of the Potomac, and is studded with coves, sandbars, waterways,
islets and small bays where small privateers can operate without being
disturbed, at least at the outset of the war.
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