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The so-called total war strategy by the Union came into full play when President Lincoln appointed US Grant to be the general in chief with the title of Lieutenant General. Instead of trying to defeat the Confederate armies, Grant was determined to deny the enemy armies the supplies it required to conduct warfare. The more accurate term used today to describe Grant's strategy is a war of exhaustion. All possible supplies which were owned by private Southern individuals were either confiscated or destroyed. This disabled Southern armies to function properly. In addition to that, Grant had enough troops, more than any general in chief before him, to sacrifice the lives of his soldiers in harmful and unnecessary frontal assaults in the 1864 Overland campaign. Many people north and south found this to be intolerable.

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8y ago
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13y ago

The total war strategy used by the North to defeat the south was called the Anaconda Plan, and was planned and implemented by U.S. General Winfield Scott. It started with a complete blockade of the Confederate coast, with the objective of preventing the export of cotton, and the import of munitions and other supplies. It was closed out by Union forces waging a burnt earth policy towards the south, destroying railroads, burning towns and crops in an attempt to cripple the south economicly. was successful during the war, but caused incredible hardships on the southerners for the next 30 years during reconstruction.

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U.S. Army General William Sherman the man who conducted the total war campaign during the Civil war (this campaign also known as "the march to the sea") is now, even though he is dead, being accused of war crimes for his actions.

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12y ago

I don't think anyone would claim that the Civil War became a total war. Surely, "total war" would have to involve 70 percent of the whole world, like in WW2, but with a civil war (exactly as they had recently had in England and in France) it was entirely possible for a battle to be raging with untold human carnage in one field, and five miles away farmers were bringing in the cows for milking.

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I don't know what that guy is going on about. the American civil war was a total war, not in terms of killing civilians but in destroying farms, homes and railroads. While president Lincoln first opposed the idea od using total war, he was persuaded of its neccessity by army general sherman.

Here are some examples of how total war was in the American civil war

1. U.S army general phillip sheridans stripped the shenandoah valley, on September 21, 1864, it lasted for two weeks. Its purpose was to eliminate foodstuffs and supplies vital to the souths military operations, as well as to strike at southern civilian morale. Sheridan took this opportunity when he realised oppossing forces had become to week to resist his army.

2. US Army gerneral shermans "march to the sea" in nov/dec 1864 destroyed the resources required for the south to make war. He ordered his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, consume supplies and destroy civilan infanstructure.

sherman is considered one of the first military commanders to deliberately and consciously use total war as a military strategy. -(also someone in thr A.C.W was the first person to call it a "total war" but i cant remember who.

4. also it was a total war, as civilians such as women worked to help the war effort at home. As all the men had gone off to war, women replaced them. They became nurses, factory workers etc. Several hundred also disguised them selves as men and served in the military.

Total war does not have to involve huge amounts of world powers or wateva. It is a total war because civilians and people in the army are effected in the war, or they contribute to it. The American civil war is considered a total war, because it targeted not only military forces but farms, homes etc where the opposition would get their resources to keep the war going.

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12y ago

Total war is an agenda that goes beyond pitched battles between armies, and attacks a whole national infrastructure, including towns, villages and public services.

The American Civil War became total in the last year, when Grant ordered Sheridan to devastate the rich farmland of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, the Confederate bread-basket. Soon afterwards, Sherman decided to do the same in Georgia, and his March to the Sea became a code for ruthless cruelty to civilians, although violence aagainst the person had been strictly forbidden.

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13y ago

total war is when a country is at war with Another Country and they have to gain allies.

the civil war was called a total war because their is more then just the north and south. their is the french and English. the french for the north and the English for the south.

if i am wrong please email me at pagejustin14@Yahoo.com THANK YOU!!

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Q: What was the total war strategy of the Civil War?
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How did total war relate to the Civil War?

Total war was General Sherman's strategy. He was to use total war to destroy the resources of the south. I am also a civil war expert so you can trust my answer.


General Sherman's war strategy?

Total War: Destroying everything in his path.


What man was most associated with the total war strategy of the Civil War?

General Sherman.


What where the Norths tactics during the civil war?

Until the end of the war, tactics on both sides remained the same as in Napoleonic times. The union strategy was a blockade strategy at sea and on the rivers, coupled with a total war strategy to destroy the means of producing war supplies on land.


What military strategy won the Civil War?

The military strategy that won the civil war is total war which was concentrated on the South's economy. Burning cities, destroying farms or anything that aided the enemy's war effort as well as the North's far superior industrial base led to the South's defeat.


What strategy did the confederates use to beat the unions in the civil war?

the union won the civil war !


What was the Northerners strategy for winning the Civil War?

Chuck noris was the strategy.


Is the Civil War a total war?

no total war is when peoples will is destroyed.


What was the union's strategy and advantage in the civil war?

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What was Grant's strategy for ending the civil war?

to win


Sherman believed in what about the Civil War?

During the Civil War, General Sherman held strong to a total war policy.


What was the Unions strategy in the Civil war called?

The Anaconda Plan