Anaconda Plan - Origin of The Plan

Origin of The Plan

The Anaconda had a historical development, both in its origin and the way it played out in the experience of battle. The blockade had already been proclaimed by President Lincoln. On April 19, 1861, a week after the bombardment of Fort Sumter that marked the outbreak of the war, he announced that the ports of all the seceded states, from South Carolina through Texas, would be blockaded; later, when Virginia and North Carolina also seceded, their coastlines were added. This executive order was not rescinded until the end of the war, so the blockade existed independently of Scott's plan.

In the early days of the secession movement, the status of the border states Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware, all of which allowed slavery, was unclear. All except Delaware had strong pro-Southern interests. Missouri was torn by internal conflict that mimicked in miniature the larger war that was convulsing the nation; Maryland was kept in the Union by jailing many of the opposition faction; and Kentucky tried to keep the peace by proclaiming its neutrality, whereby it would aid neither the North nor the South if they would agree to leave the state alone.

Because Congress was not in session to authorize Presidential initiatives to suppress the rebellion, the burden of raising troops for the war fell on the loyal state governments. Ohio was particularly active in doing so, and early acquired the services of George B. McClellan, who was to serve as the commander of its militia, with rank Major General of Volunteers. In a few weeks, as the state militias were incorporated into the national service, the militias of Indiana and Illinois were added to his command. From this power base, he felt enabled on April 27, 1861 to write a letter to General Scott outlining his strategy. He proposed an immediate march on Richmond, by this time the capital of the Confederacy, directed up the Kanawha River; alternatively, if Kentucky were to leave the Union, a march directly across that state should take Nashville, after which he would "act on circumstances."

Scott's endorsement of McClellan's letter, which he submitted to the President, shows that he considered it, but not favorably. First, the Kanawha was not suited for water transport, so the march on Richmond would have to be overland, and thus subject to breakdowns of men, horses, and equipment. More serious was that western Virginia (West Virginia had not yet parted from Virginia) was still very much pro-Union; according to Scott's estimate, its populace stood five out of seven opposed to secession. An invasion as proposed would alienate many of these people, and would subject both enemies and friends to the ravages of war. The same argument could be applied to Kentucky. Perhaps most damaging, the war as proposed would subjugate the Confederacy piecemeal, with by necessity the border states bearing most of the burden, "instead of enveloping them all (nearly) at once by a cordon of ports on the Mississippi to its mouth from its junction with the Ohio, and by blockading ships on the sea board."

The germ of Scott's Anaconda Plan for suppressing the insurrection is seen in the endorsement. In a few days, he had given it more thought, and he submitted his own proposal in a letter to McClellan on May 3, 1861. A second letter, dated May 21, was his final outline of the plan.

General Scott was not able to impose his strategic vision on the government. Aged and infirm, he had to retire before the year was out. He was replaced as General-in-Chief by none other than George B. McClellan.