Chapter 77 The Anaconda Plan
"To say that the war will be over by Christmas is a vast miscalculation by the populace. If we are to go with this plan however then we can restore the Union with the least amount of damage."- Lieutenant General Robert E. Lee 1861
"Defense is the best offense."- General Samuel Cooper 1861
"There always has been a rather stark division between the two halves of Tennessee. After Nashville unification could never happen again."- Governor Andrew Johnson 1865
After the Battles of Fort Sumter and Petersburg, the die had been officially cast and the United States torn in two between the North and the South. For many in the early months of the American Civil War it was still a cerebral experience to have the once proud and undivided union fight against itself. There were strong expectations for both sides of a quick and simple victory that would either see the independence of the Confederacy or the restoration of the Union, accompanied by claims of a Christmas victory similar to the men who served in the first year of the Great War. Unfortunately for the tens of thousands of Americans who would give their lives and many more who would become wounded in the struggle, it was not such a simple manner. For the United States would come upon a wake up call of the 19th century with a descent into years of bloody fighting between brothers over the issue of slavery and states rights. The Civil War itself becoming an important affair in world history for having been the first modern war of its kind. For with each new development such as Gatling guns, telegraph communication, espionage, ironclads, and repeating rifles; would come a much more deadly and horrible version in the Great War.
With the entirety of the Deep South having succeeded and four border areas in heavy dispute, Union command needed a quick solution in order to gain control of their loyalist territories and prevent the creation of an initiative by the Confederacy from which they could conquer the remaining slave states and possibly make another pass on Washington. In order to fully mobilize the United States Army it would take a total of nearly three months to recruit and train over 500,000 men and then deploy them from the various states up north to the south. During that precious time frame in which the Confederacy too would be preparing, Lincoln called a meeting of the U.S War department which consisted of the key leaders of both the Army and the Navy. Luckily for Lincoln the loyalty of Virginia would provide the Union with some of their best officers in the war and arguably part of the best generation of American officers in history, chief among them being the new commanding general Robert E. Lee. On June 13th a conference was called in the White House with nearly all of the key generals and admirals in the eastern seaboard along with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to discuss the course of the war. Initially there were talks among the men of a drive straight to Montgomery and South Carolina and ignore the rest of the states in order to take out the heart of the enemy. Some ambitious naval officers suggested that the Marines be used to conduct landings at all the key southern ports upon were the Navy would transport troops and then proceed to dive straight into the Confederacy. Many of the Southern officers and those who lived in west of the Mississippi were more concerned with securing the border states and crushing the Indians of Oklahoma in order to prevent the spread of a further uprising in the rest of the Union territories. Among all these various plans there was also widespread fear and apprehension of an invasion by Britain through Canada, with intense debates over the positioning of such troops versus the need for men on the front lines. Eventually after hours of debate a plan was formulated with the key backers being General Lee and Rear Admiral David Farragut of the U.S Navy, the Anaconda plan.
The Anaconda plan, which in many ways became the inspiration for the Picard plan of the French Empire, was an unusual and rather innovative plan of its time. The main reason for this is that the Anaconda plan relied on attrition and total war tactics rather than simple drives of conquest and large battles which had become common place since the Napoleonic Wars. As the name suggests, the basis of the Anaconda plan was to slowly stretch and exhaust the resources of the Confederacy and proceed for fullscale warfare on all fronts to divide and conquer the south. The first step of this plan was the securing of the Union border states and territories, through this the loyalist parts of the nation would be secure and further secession prevented, while economic production and lands can continue to proceed unhindered by the war. The second part of the plan which would continue at the same time, would be a total blockade of the Confederate coast from the shores of North Carolina all the way to New Orleans. To do so would be an tremendous undertaking with the Navy's responsibility with nearly a thousand miles of shore and open ocean to watch over, requiring a large expansion of the U.S Navy. The third stage of the plan which would occupy the rest of the war would be a multi-front offensive into the Confederacy to exhaust the resources and manpower of the much smaller nation and to take back each state one at a time, crushing resistance. The overall mindset of the plan was that even if the war would take years, by undergoing this route the Union would triumph eventually due to their far superior resources which would force Montgomery to the table. While Lincoln had been hoping for a swift victory to heal divisions throughout the country, he found the Anaconda Plan to be the most sensible and realistic path to victory, giving his full support to the idea with the rest of the Union staff joining. Of important note was that before the end of the meeting came the introduction of the treatment of slaves upon the reunification of the southern states back into the Union. This in and of itself caused a great division between the men as the Yankees had wanted to emancipate the slaves and possibly have the blacks join their ranks while the southern men were entirely against the idea in fear that their loyalty would be for not if their right to property would be taken away. Not wanting to create divisions after all the hard work into formulating a plan to reunify the nation, President Lincoln called off the meeting with only promises of the loyalist states keeping their right to own slaves, having made no mention of the outcome to the rebel states. For Lincoln it was the start of a time of soul searching upon which path to take for the fate of African-Americans, his actions being torn between loyalty to the Republican Party and loyalty to the United States as a whole. His answer would come next year.
Political cartoon of the Anaconda plan posted by the New York Times. Said cartoon gained much fame during the war for its horrible inaccuracy by giving claim of its origins to retired General Winfield Scott instead of Lee while the Republic of Texas is included in the picture for some reason. The publishing of the cartoon caused a small diplomatic incident between Texas and the United States with Texan ambassador Edmund Perry lodging a complaint against Lincoln that he was planing to invade Texas.
At the same time in the Confederate capitol of Montgomery, a similar meeting was happening between the various Confederate counterparts from the rebel states. It took several weeks to gather the experienced loyal men of the south, but President Toombs was able to call a general meeting with the Confederate cabinet and War department on July 6th with almost all of the major southern officers who would become potential leaders of the Confederacy in attendance. Among the Confederate generals there was a feeling of optimism over the course of the war, that they would be able to win independence from Lincoln by the end of the year in the same manner that their great-grandfathers had overthrown the rule of King George. Yet the differences between the American Revolution and the current Civil War were vast with far more disadvantages for the young rebel nation. The states that had succeeded, or were in the process of seceding, to form the Confederacy only mounted together to form a 1:3 ratio in population compared to the greater amounts of manpower in the north. While the North had plenty of centers of industry such as New England, Pennsylvania, and Ohio; the South was an agricultural region with not even their higher production of crops being of benefit due to a majority of it being cash crops. While the north had the initial initiative to invade the Confederacy, the South didn't even have full order in all of their states with many counties having Unionist sentiments and Tennessee being torn in half with East Tennessee fighting for the Union. The failed invasion of Washington also cast a shadow over the Confederacy as not only had it been a huge waste of resources and manpower by South Carolina, but it eliminated the chance for another largescale offensive and turned Virginia to the Union, bringing with them the center of the South's industry and a large cadre of brilliant officers. Realizing that waging a full war against the Union was futile, General Samuel Cooper along with the support of Vice President Davis came up with a plan of defense against the tide of the North. The men of the south would be mobilized into several key armies against the North and would wage large battles to bleed the Union dry while placing priority over the defense of several key cities near the border. The goal was to prevent a penetration into the Deep South and the cause of a rise of anti-war sentiment in the North. For despite Petersburg and the high feelings of abolitionism, there were large segments of the Union population who were against the war and wanted for there to be peace with the South. This would hopefully result in the takeover of congress by a Democratic majority which would force Lincoln to the negotiating table. The plan while not being the most glorious of ideas, was in general agreement by the officers and key defenses over the next few months would be placed at Tennessee and North Carolina. What little resources spent on offensives where devoted to the takeover of the states with splinter Confederate governments, where hopefully they would be able to enlarge the Confederacy and increase support with the Unionist slave states.
Virginia: While the state of Virginia had declared loyalty to the Union following Petersburg, there were still various elements of Confederate sympathy within the state, mainly from the large tobacco plantation class. As part of the Anaconda plan to deny the South of their key industrial base and secure Washington from another possible invasion, the Virginia millitia along with other Union forces from nearby states would act quickly to remove the threat of a Confederate Virginia before the South could mobilize. Under the direct command of Lieutenant General Robert E. Lee with fellow Virginia native Major General Stonewall Jackson as second-in-command, the Army of Virginia was formed with a force of 100,000, 20,000 of which were regiments from the neighboring states of Maryland and Deleware. Starting in the beginning of May, the Army of Virginia would begin a campaign of state defense against Confederate millitia, securing the borders from Confederate armies and from Southern sympathizers within. The affair was a relatively quick and efficient one due to the West and Northern parts of the state being immensely pro-Union while the South was the only areas of Confederate sympathy with the plantation class. The only major battle taking place in Virginia during the war was the Battle of Norfolk where Confederate Virginians along with a few regiments from North Carolina, tried to take control of the port in order to give the Confederacy a key naval yard. The Confederate forces consisted of 25,000 men with 15,000 being made up of the majority of Virginian Confederate troops. The Confederaets where led by Major General Jack Kemper who was a Virginia-native and staunch anti-abolitionist. Meeting the men where 35,000 of the Army of Virginia under the command of Lieutenant General Lee. The battle took place on July 21st-23rd and would involve three days of intense fighting between both sides with the Confederates defending the port and the Union troops launching waves of attacks with Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B Stuart attempting to form a pincer movement around the harbor. With heavy casualties and supplies running low, Kemper made a tactical retreat by combining all his men into one large column and then blasting through Union lines on a southward direction towards North Carolina. While Norfolk was a Union victory it was a pyrrhic one as Confederate troops set fire to the harbor before they left and destroyed nearly 65% of the city and harbor before the Union troops were able to put it out, putting the harbor out of commission until mid-1862. By the end of August the southern border of Virginia would be lined up with Union troops and the state of Virginia being declared to be completely secure.
Union forces charge at the Battle of Norfolk (Left). Burning of Norfolk (Right)
Kentucky: In many ways next to Virginia, Kentucky was perhaps the most important strategic Union state of the war. The state was very important in location for Confederate access to Missouri, Maryland, and Virginia. Most importantly Confederate control of Kentucky would give access to the Ohio river which ran through most of the key states of the North. However having Kentucky pick a side was easier said than done. Kentucky was perhaps the most divided out of all the states as it was a southern state to the core and had a large amount of slaves, though it was not dependent on the plantation system like Georgia or South Carolina. Kentucky was linked to both sides economically through the Ohio river to Ohio and the Cumberland to Tennessee. Nearly all citizens of the state also had family ties to and friends to either side. The most famous example of which was President Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd who were both born in the state. Due to these divided ties, the Kentucky assembly and Governor Beriah Magoffin chose to remain in the Union, but keep a stance of neutrality where the state would not give troops or materials to either side. Initially this neutrality was respected by Lincoln due both a desire not to antagonize relations with its citizens and of a love for his birth state, though Vice President Steward was openly bent on enforcing federal control of the state. This neutrality was also respected by Toombs but out of more of practicality as he couldn't spend the resources to gain control of the state and had to secure his borders first. For the summer of 1861 there existed an uneasy truce as the state of Kentucky while not taking any open action, continued to be torn apart as its citizens continued to incite violence against one another to push the state unto either side with Pro-Confederate and Pro-Union private militias forming. In many ways Kentucky resembled Bloody Kansas on a smaller scale. The situation escalated on August 23rd when Pro-Confederate legislatures, tired of neutrality and wanting to help out their comrades in Tennessee and Missouri, met together in Russelville and declared a splinter government loyal to the Confederacy. In an effort to take control of the state and thinking that Kentucky had rose up for the Confederacy, President Toombs ordered Major General Leonidas Polk to "liberate" Kentucky, which he did so by occupying the border town of Columbus on September 4th. This open invasion caused the Kentucky legislature in Frankfort to request federal aid, which Lincoln granted by sending Major General Ulysses S. Grant with the Army of the Ohio, crossing into the state on September 11th.
Major General Leonidas Polk
Missouri: In the beginning of the war Missouri found itself in a position similar to Kentucky in that the state was divided heavily between Pro-Union and Pro-Confederate sentiments. While the situation was luckily not as bad as Kansas or Kentucky, unrest and violence were increasing with both sides demanding that the state government take a stand. During this time Missouri volunteers also began to move out of the state to join regiments in neighboring states on either side, with Confederates joining Kansas, Arkansas, and Tennessee while Unionists joined Kearney's Army of the West or Grant's Army of the Ohio. At first while publicly proclaiming neutrality due to the Unionist majority in the Jefferson legislature, Missouri Governor Clayborne Fox Jackson began secretly plotting to launch an ordinance of secession and pledge allegiance to Toombs. Fortunately for the Union, these plans came to a deadly halt when Governor Jackson was shot and killed by Union sympathizer Jesse James when the Governor's mansion was lit on fire by James and his comrades in a Union gang and James shot the Governor in proclaimed self-defense due to Governor Jackson firing a rifle at him first. Governor Jackson's death by the future outlaw sent Missouri into turmoil as local Union forces under the command of Union Colonel Nathaniel Lyon declared Marshal law until the state could be rid of Confederate dissidents. The state afterwords erupted into a mass amount of guerilla warfare between Union "Jayhawkers" versus Confederate "Bushwackers" under the command of Major General Sterling Price who set up a splinter government in Neosho, Missouri. Unlike Kentucky or Kansas, Missouri would largely be under Union control for the rest of the war as Montgomery sent few if any units to defend the state, placing higher priority on Kentucky and North Carolina, while Arkansas sent its forces to Kansas. Thus began a deadly campaign of partisan activity that would see violence last until 1889.
Jessie James in 1861. After the Civil War James would become an infamous outlaw throughout all of Texas for his bank heists. (Left) A battle between Bushwackers and Jayhawkers (Right).
Kansas: Despite the territory being named "Bloody Kansas" for the high amount of violence before the war, somehow after Fort Sumter the territory would become more violent as both the abolitionists and slavers were able to openly incite violence against one another with no holds barred. In the first year of the war, Confederate Kansas would hold the advantage due to the high numbers of pro-slave settlers in Kansas outnumbering the abolitionist settlers. With aid from sympathetic militias in Missouri, the Confederate government in Lawrence was able to take control of all the major towns in the Kansas territory by July of 1861 with the abolitionist town of Topeka being the last bastion of Union support left. Unfortunately for the Confederacy, Topeka would not be able to fall any time soon as the two Army regiments which had been sent to pacify the territory before the war had sided with the Union and had made their main base of operations there. In order to take force the Union troops and abolitionists to surrender, self-proclaimed Kansas governor William Quantrill began a siege of the city, though it was not an entirely effective one as Union convoys were able to slip in and out. During the siege of Topeka, pro-slave militias began a campaign of vengeance against Yankee and abolitionist farmsteads throughout the territory, often destroying crops and property and killing a total of 2,374 civilians in the first year of the war. Joining them were the Indian nations of Oklahoma who set out upon a warpath of vengeance throughout the state in retribution for the crimes suffered against their people. In order to relieve the Union settlers and end the fighting once and for all, President Lincoln ordered Major General Stephen Kearney as effective commander of the west to bring a full division to Kansas and restore order to the state. At the same time Governor Quantrill sent out pleas to Governor Henry Rector of Arkansas to send regiments at once. So began the Race to Kansas in order to determine control of the state.
William Quantrill, "Governor" of Kansas and Butcher of Lawrence.
Tennessee: Following the Coup of Nashville and the secession of Eastern Tennessee, the overall two Tennessee states descended into turmoil as both states were torn apart by loyalties. Generally though East Tennessee was more stable due to the high presence of Unionists whereas Governor Harris' actions caused many in the western part of the state to switch loyalties to the Union. During the summer of 1861 both sides spent much time trying to secure and defend their states. For East Tennessee it was mostly a matter of securing the borders against a possible invasion from the west, North Carolina, or Georgia. For Tennessee it meant a brutal crackdown on Unionist sentiment with both Governor Harris and General Forrest gaining infamy for various warcrimes against Tennessee Unionists and slaves within the state, giving more legitimacy to the Union and Johnson's side in Knoxville. On June 18th President Lincoln and congress would recognize and approve the constitution of East Tennessee, thereby making it the 33rd state of the United States with T.A.R Nelson as its first interim Governor. During the first phase of the Civil War the only major Battle was First Battle of Greeneville on July 30th-August 3rd, an attempted invasion of East Tennessee by North Carolina troops number 30,000 under the command of Lieutenant General Braxton Bragg. Meeting them were 22,000 men of East Tennessee under the command of Major General James G. Spears. The battle took place day and night for the next five days and was an increased stalemate due to the well-entrenched positions of the Union troops who had a lay of the land, but was not a total defeat due to the Confederacy's numerical superiority and the inability of Spears to form a counterattack. On the fifth day the attack was called off by Bragg as his army retreated to the border due to a message of withdraw from Toombs for fear of a Union invasion through North Carolina, Bragg waiting for the next month in order to decide a plan of attack. At the same time Spears was unable to perform a route or give chase due to the high casualties among his men and the fear of invasion from Forrest in the west. From May-September neither Tennessee's commenced an invasion of the other half of the former united state due to a need to gain control of their respective states and prevent invasion from either side. By September the situation had largely been stabilized in both states and the campaign for control of Tennessee was ready to begin. In Eastern Tennessee the Army of East Tennessee formed under the command of newly-promoted Major General William T. Sherman with 80,000 men. At the same time the Army of the Cumberland formed under Lieutenant Nathaniel Bedford Forrest with 70,000 men. The fighting on the border would commence for the fall campaign in September.
Battle of Greeneville
Navy: In the first few months of the American Civil War, the Naval front was a rather quiet affair with no major battles being fought between either side. This is mainly due to the need to reorganize the Navy after the formation of the Confederacy which had seen a split among the officers and the loss of several key southern ports to the Union Navy. Most importantly, the first year would be a crucial period for the Navy's of both nations in order to build up their numbers and accomplish their respective objectives. For the North came a huge need to increase their previous small size of 75 ships to over 600 in order to properly blockade the Confederate ports and prevent the selling of cash crops such as cotton and tobacco to Europe in order to bleed the South dry of money. For the South came the importance of actually building a Navy as most American naval personnel at the beginning of the war declared allegiance to the Union and as such shifted a majority of American ships to the North, with only 26 ships being left in Confederate ports. Matters were made even worse for the South as the only notable ports for production and supply were New Orleans and Charleston while the North had a multitude of them, mainly the key ports of Boston and New York City. With the obvious disparity in numbers, the tactics and strategy of the Confederacy switched to the simple protection of their shores and the construction of several blockade runners to gain supplies and funds from Europe along with possible foreign aid. At the same time there was the beginning of construction of various river boats on both sides in order to gain effective control of key rivers such as the Cumberland and Mississippi, though battles would not take place til the fall of 1861 at the earliest due to the only freshwater ships being those in the Great Lakes. For the first six months of the war the battles would consist of small skirmishes on both sides with a total of 4 Confederate ships and 5 Union ships lost. In the meantime the Union was slowly beginning to implement their blockade with North and South Carolina being under full blockade by September.
