Question

All the following were parts of the Anaconda Plan in the Civil War except;
(a) A Union blockade of Confederate ports
(b) A siege of Richmond by federal troops
(c) A campaign to destroy Southern railroads and industries
(d) Cutting the South in half by seizing the Mississippi
(e) Assaulting coastal ports to seize trading vessels

Answer 1

Hint: Beginning of the American Civil War, Union General Winfield Scott suggested the Anaconda scheme as a defensive measure. The American Civil War took place between the Confederate States of America and the USA. The main cause of the dispute was a long-standing conflict about the history of slavery.

Complete answer:
- Scott formulated a plan in April and early May of 1861, which was not only a strategy for winning the war but also a forecast of how the battle would unfold. The Anaconda Plan was the name given to this lengthy strategy. It was made up of a number of components, which can be described in detail below.
- This plan involved a naval blockade of the Confederate littoral, the siege of the Mississippi River, and Union land and naval forces strangling the South. When the Mississippi river was seized it also meant that trading was seized too. The troops were to march to Richmond in the event of an emergency and attempt to capture the Confederate capital.
- After understanding the parts of the anaconda plan, if we look at options (a), (c), (d), and (e), we see that they were all certain parts of the Anaconda Plan. This eliminates the possibility for them to be correct options, as we are looking for the exception from the plan. They can all be rejected.
- But option (b) a siege of Richmond by federal troops; was not part of the primary Anaconda plan. It was only a part of the anaconda plan in case of an emergency so it was not technically part of this Anaconda Plan.

Therefore the correct answer will be an option (b) a siege of Richmond by federal troops.

Note: Scott devised the Anaconda Plan, a Union tactic that stressed a coastal blockade and the use of river systems in the South, in 1861. On the eve of the Civil War, he was one of Lincoln's most trusted advisers. During the early Union moves, Scott was the General-in-Chief of the United States armies, based in Washington, D.C. During the War of 1812, he was a daring military commander.