What was the union plan for victory?

Answer 1

1. A blockade of the South - an effort to deny supplies from and trade with outside sources; it appeared for a while that Britain was receptive to Confederate aims in the construction of the Alabama, which preyed upon Union shipping; France toyed with recognition of the South, but contented itself with an invasion of Mexico.

2. A move to split the Confederacy in two - beginning with U.S. Grant's victories at Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862. The war in the West continued with New Orleans, guardian of the mouth of the Mississippi, falling to Union forces in April. Both sides suffered heavy casualties at Shiloh. An indecisive encounter at Perryville was followed by a Union victory at Murfreesboro, ending a Confederate push into Kentucky. The West was sealed off from the remainder of the Confederacy following the Union victory at Vicksburg in July 1863. Northern forces began a thrust into enemy territory in the Chattanooga campaign and later in the Atlanta campaign. William T. Sherman's "March to the Sea" ended with the occupation of Savannah in late 1864.

3. A campaign to capture Richmond, the Confederate capital, required nearly the entire course of the war to accomplish, due in large part to Robert E. Lee's skillful maneuvers. The First Battle of Bull Run showed that the conflict would not be won easily. In the spring of 1862, Union General George B. McClellan opened a lackluster Peninsular Campaign, which was intended to take Richmond. A Confederate victory at the Second Battle of Bull Run opened the door to an invasion into Maryland. A long-awaited Union victory occurred at Antietam, providing a morale boost for the North and an opportunity for Lincoln to announce his Emancipation Proclamation. Fortunes again turned in favor of the South in a stunning victory at Fredericksburg. In 1863 the Confederates won a costly victory at Chancellorsville, but their northward push ended at Gettysburg in July. A war of attrition took place in the Wilderness Campaign. The Siege of Petersburg and the fall of Richmond occurred in early April 1865. Lee surrendered on April 9. Less than a week later President Lincoln was assassinated.

Answer 2

The original plan by Winfield Scott was nicknamed the Anaconda Plan, because it was like slow strangulation of the Confederacy.