What was the Union strategy in the US Civil War?

Answer 1

The "Anaconda Plan", to weaken the South then invade it.

The first plan put forward by the General-in-Chief, Winfield Scott, was based on the prospect of a long war, with a big emphasis on a naval blockade that would starve the Confederacy of its war supplies. This attempt had mixed results.

To most officers and politicians, this looked far too slow, as they were expecting a short war, all over in a few quick thrusts. They jokingly called it the Anaconda, as it sounded like slow strangulation, and Scott soon retired through old age, to be replaced by the popular young George B. McClellan.

But all McCLellan's attempts at marching on Richmond failed, and the war began to take shape in Tennessee, where the next General-in-Chief, Halleck, believed in occupying territory, rather than destroying armies, so progress was gradual.

Only when his subordinate, U.S. Grant, moved into the top job was the end of the war in sight. Grant ended the system of prisoner-exchange, so the Confederates were bound to run out of men eventually. Sherman's March to the Sea laid waste to the farms and railroads of Georgia, which helped to starve the Confederate troops in the field.

Eventually Lee surrendered to Grant with under 30,000 men left in the Army of Northern Virginia. Other Confederate armies surrendered soon after.

Although Lee urged Jefferson Davis to call for a general Southern surrender, Davis remained stubborn to the end. There were still about 175,000 Confederate soldiers in the field at the time of Appomattox, Lee and other leaders had to believe the most humane way to save lives in a now lost cause, was to surrender. This saved lives on both sides. And,they were all Americans.
new jersey plan

The Union Strategy, formulated at the start of the war by veteran Mexican War General Winfield Scott, became known as the Anaconda Plan. The plan consisted of blockading the Atlantic and Gulf ports of the Southern States, and seizing control of the Mississippi River Valley, preventing the South from receiving supplies from foreign countries, or from the Western States that sided with the South. It counted on the slow strangulation of the South's ability to wage war, with the possibility of forcing the South to the conference table to negotiate peace. In the event, Grant also captured the Cumberland Valley and the Tennessee Valley to further split the South, and Sherman's total warfare March to the Sea destroyed the South's ability to make war by preventing its armies in the field from receiving ammunition, uniforms, or food, forcing Lee to surrender because his army no longer had the materiels with which to fight or rations enough for a week.

Answer 2

The North had several strategies, but the one that finally worked was the Anaconda plan (originally called the boa-constrictor plan but later renamed). The plan was to surround the South through the Mississippi River and the coast and work their way in and find General Lee.

Essentially, the strategy that ended up working was the Anaconda Plan originated by then General in Chief Winfield Scott. This plan was given to President Lincoln well before the conflict was underway. Most critics scoffed at the plan as being one that would take too much time. Scott also explained that the war caused by the secession would be long and bloody. There again, no one believed him.

Scott ended up being correct on both counts. The plan is best explained as a simultaneous invasion of the South on three or more battlefronts, including the coastal blockade and the seizure of the Mississippi River.

Answer 3

There were a number of Union operations and strategies employed by the Union to end the Confederate rebellion. Some were more effective than others. For example the blockading many Southern ports was not that effective due to the inability to catch privateer ships under the cover of darkness and the South's use of torpedoes to sink Union ships. The Union made repeated attempts to defeat Robert E Lee's Army of North Virginia In the western theater taking control of the Mississippi River and blocking supply routes. The Union destroyed much of the Souths infrastructure in rail roads and farming land.

Union strategies revolved around the idea of placing pressure on various parts of the South at the same time. These coordinated efforts and naval-army expeditions were also part of Union operations.

Answer 4

The Union had several main strategies:

1. Push hard to take the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia.

2. Blockade trade from the southern ports. Cut off all exports of cotton and tobacco and imports of war goods.

3. Take control of the Mississippi River.

4. Use the Mississippi River as a supply line for an invasion of the deep south.

5. Keep Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri in the Union.

After 3 years of war, they had accomplished goals #2 - 5. They had made almost no progress toward Richmond. However, the invasion of the deep south (Sherman's March to the Sea) was proving more successful than hoped for, giving the possibility of encircling the leading southern cities.

An additional pair of strategies:

6. Field larger and better equipped armies. Wear the South down with superior forces.

7. Use Immigration to fill draft quotas and keep manpower flowing into the army.

The Union strategy, devised by Winfield Scott, became known as the Anaconda Plan. It called for the blockade of all Southern seaports, and the capture of the river ports on the Mississippi River to slowly choke off the South's ability to reinforce and resupply its armies in the field. After 1863, Grant and Sherman modified the strategy to include Total War, the devastation of agricultural, transportation, and industrial centers within the South, to hasten the crippling effect of the Anaconda Plan.

Answer 5

The strategies of the Union were always in a state of flux due to the political ramifications each strategy presented. And, during the war, the Union, not purposely, was engaged in conflicting strategies almost to the very end of the conflict.The strategies without going into finite detail became even more confusing for a variety of reasons:

1. Generals like John Pope, successful in the West, could not measure up to expectations in the East;

1a. In four years there were four generals in chief. McClellan, Lincoln and Stanton, Henery Halleck and US Grant;

1b. There was substantial disunity in Northern politics. When 20,000 troops, weary from Gettysburg were needed to end the draft riots in New York City, there is disunity;

2. Revolving door leadership within the primary and premier army, the Army of the Potomac hampered its efforts in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. This is true inasmuch as the Army of Northern Virginia, even fighting hundreds of miles away from "home" with fewer troops could not be trapped and destroyed;

3. The shifting policies of first focusing on Richmond, then switching that to fight Lee's army was never a focus in the West. There it was cities and territory;

4. The porous blockade created and allowed continued privateer operations by Great Britain in favor of the South. This was because the blockade itself placed the Confederacy into the position of being a "belligerent". It already had defacto status as a nation because it had an army, and central government and a constitution;

5. The Union's situation was in itself a nation divided cannot stand position because four of its states were slave states;and

6. In Virginia, the massive frontal assaults carried out by the Union created a casualty rate that cannot be explained without honestly analyzing it with regards to the politics of the November 1864 presidential elections.

Answer 6

The answer often used for the Union strategy of "total war", has been debunked many times. Total war is best seen in WW 2. There civilian targets were added to bombing factories, armies and enemy railroads. Union General Sherman did not attack civilians or destroy their homes, except by accident. Sherman, Grant and President Lincoln saw that they would not end the war necessarily by destroying the Rebel armies. They discovered that the best way to end the war was to deprive Southern armies of food supplies. Therefore, unlike their earlier strategies, the Union chose to place a strong focus on destroying potential sources of supply to Southern armies.

Answer 7

They used a strategy called total war. That is when you completely destroy everything. You destroy factories, stores, homes, and you really destroy everything in your path.