Granted the Anaconda Strategy did work, as it firstly kept France and Britain hostile and unable to trade/supply the Confederacy, while also destroying the very essence of the South’s economy which relied on international exports.

By the second year of fighting, most Southern soldiers simply didn’t have boots, their weapons became hopelessly out of date, their uniforms were ragtag and disheveled, and they had barely any supplies, artillery, or ability to mechanize (trains).

I would say the North’s strategy definitely paid off.