Читать книгу American Civil War For Dummies - Keith D. Dickson - Страница 131

Based on the political objectives and the assessment of its resources, the Union had a simple military strategy: divide and conquer. Union armies would have to invade the Confederacy, split it in half, and capture and control its territory. General Winfield Scott, the commanding general of the U.S. Army, developed what was termed “the Anaconda Plan.” His strategy for defeating the Confederacy contained three objectives. The first goal of the strategy was to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, only 100 miles from Washington, D.C. The second goal was to strangle the Confederacy through the use of a blockade. This blockade would employ the U.S. Navy in a cordon around the 3,500-mile coastline of the Confederacy to prevent any seaborne commerce from entering or leaving Southern ports. The third part of the strategy was to advance down the Mississippi River, cut the Confederacy in half, and defeat its armies. It all looked good on paper, but the prospects of achieving these three goals were daunting.