What is the Anaconda Plan? Was it a success or failure?Why?

Anaconda Plan
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Anaconda Plan
During the Civil War, several strategies were applied by the warring groups. The Anaconda Plan was one of them; it was a strategic plan that was used by the union with the aim of defeating the Confederacy at the onset of the American Civil War. The plan’s primary goal was to defeat the rebellion by employing methods such as blocking the southern ports as well as controlling river Mississippi. By so doing, the South would be cut off and isolated from the rest of the world (Schroeder, 2017). General Winfield Scott substantially developed the Anaconda Plan after the Confederate attack which took place at Fort Sumter. The plan played a substantial role as it helped in ending the Civil War with fewer casualties from the warring groups. In fact, the Anaconda Plan was deemed a humane method of suppressing the rebellion as opposed to the use of troops and heavy weaponry (Gallagher, 2016).
However, despite the fact the Anaconda Plan could have been an effective way of ending the rebellion, it was not implemented. General Scott faced a hard time convincing his Union counterparts that the plan was a brilliant idea. In their opposition, the commanders disliked Scott’s plan as they viewed it as a complacent move. According to them, they wanted to invade and attack the south with the Union’s industrial and military might. Therefore, they argued that Anaconda plan would require more time. The majority of the generals wanted to suppress the rebellion as soon as they could thus leave no space for the plan’s implementation (Schroeder, 2017).

Evidently, it would have reduced the number of lives lost during the American Civil War. Ideally, if it was adopted at the beginning of the war, the mighty battles fought afterward would not have taken place (Gallagher, 2016).

References
Gallagher, G. W. (2016). The American Civil War: The War in the East 1861-May 1863. Routledge.
Schroeder, J. (2017). The Civil War on the Mississippi: Union sailors, gunboat captains, and thecampaign to control the river. Civil War Book Review, 19(1), 15.