It didn't exactly fail, but the Union generals were wishful thinking that they would win the war just through the blockade, and were surprised by how hard the South fought back and both sides were surprised by how bloody the war became (in part because in the beginning of the war everyone was trying to fight like it was the 18th century with 19th century weapons).
Winfield Scott's original plan was to just blockade the South and wait for them to return to the Union. At worst the Union would march an army down the Mississippi to scare them and maybe take New Orleans. He touted his plan as being "bloodless" and specifically did not want an army marching into the Southern heartland becuase that would destabilize the Southern slave society.
In 1860 the Union had way too few ships to maintain a blockade and would take 4 years of war to build up a large enough fleet; also given how intransigent the South was, a blockade alone would have never ended the war.
Like a big part of why the war took so long despite all the advantages the Union had was becuase of generals like Scott who didn't really want to bring war to the Confederacy.
Does the US Army think the Anaconda Plan was a good idea that worked?
Also, the whole point of the Anaconda Plan was to gently pressure the South into rejoining the Union, and with slavery still in place.
did the anaconda plan not work? i thought they damaged southern exports & imports quite severely.
It didn't exactly fail, but the Union generals were wishful thinking that they would win the war just through the blockade, and were surprised by how hard the South fought back and both sides were surprised by how bloody the war became (in part because in the beginning of the war everyone was trying to fight like it was the 18th century with 19th century weapons).
Winfield Scott's original plan was to just blockade the South and wait for them to return to the Union. At worst the Union would march an army down the Mississippi to scare them and maybe take New Orleans. He touted his plan as being "bloodless" and specifically did not want an army marching into the Southern heartland becuase that would destabilize the Southern slave society.
In 1860 the Union had way too few ships to maintain a blockade and would take 4 years of war to build up a large enough fleet; also given how intransigent the South was, a blockade alone would have never ended the war.
Like a big part of why the war took so long despite all the advantages the Union had was becuase of generals like Scott who didn't really want to bring war to the Confederacy.