CIVIL WAR BATTLE STRATEGIES North vs South
UNION STRATEGY 1: BLOCKADES Definition – to obstruct A blockade would prevent the South from selling its cotton abroad and importing war equipment and supplies from foreign nations Union initially had 26 ships running up and down the Southern coast Later they added ironclads (armored ships) Blockade runners (private ships that would slip past the blockades to bring in supplies) were very successful – the runners made thousands of dollars As the war progressed the runners had a more difficult time Why was it essential for the South to have blockade runners?
UNION STRATEGY 2: ANACONDA PLAN This strategy involved capturing the Mississippi River and splitting the confederacy in half leaving Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana stranded Got its name for the fact if it was successful it would squeeze the confederacy to death just the giant anaconda snake squeezes its prey to death
UNION STRATEGY 3: TWOFOLD Destroy confederate armies on the battlefield Lay waste to the land so that southern civilians would stop supporting the war This ultimately becomes Sherman’s March to the Sea
CONFEDERATE STRATEGY 1: LAND Wear down the invading Union armies Felt rising casualties would weaken northerners’ support for the war
CONFEDERATE STRATEGY 2: SEA Make sure the blockade did not work Used swift raiders (fast, lightly armed ships) to capture Union merchant ships and draw the Union Navy away from their blockade duties Used ironclads and even a submarine to sink the Union’s wooden ships and to open southern ports for trade with other nations
CONFEDERATE STRATEGY 3: POLITICAL Known as King Cotton Diplomacy Southern leaders believed that the British and French textile mills needed the South’s cotton to keep running They believed if they stopped selling cotton abroad for a time, France and Great Britain would be forced to help the South break the blockades to get the cotton they needed The North put pressure on France and Great Britain and those two nations switched to cotton grown in Egypt