Halfway through, Davis realized: having fewer men and less money, the South was best with an offensive-defensive strategy that gave them more flexibility. Unfortunately, this resulted in the Southern armies being stretched thin and easily penetrable by the North. They strived for as many casualties as possible so the North would be discouraged from continuing fighting.īut the border states (along the Arkansas – Missouri border, the Tennessee – Kentucky, Gulf and Atlantic coasts, etc.) wanted to be protected by small armies. The South took advantage of the internal communications, geography, and terrains to offset the North troops. It was called the attrition strategy, which can be understood as: winning by not losing just wearing the enemy out, physically and financially. Their leader, President Jefferson Davis, wanted to avoid battles, minimize annihilation, and focus only on small engagements in their favor. There was no interest in invading the North’s territories. Their initial plan was simply to survive and protect their rights to owning slaves. As a result, the South lost its stream of income to finance the war (ie., pay for guns, supplies, and ammunition). But Europe simply turned to Egypt and India for cotton. The South stopped supplying cotton to Europe in an attempt for them to gain leverage and prompt Europe to help.In addition, they had hoped that European powers would assist them against the North (as they would want to protect their supply of cotton). In short, the South’s strategy was to outlast the North’s political will to persist with the war by showing that it would be lengthy and costly. Eventually, the South surrendered at the Durham Station and ended the war.Īlso, check this article to know the main military strategy of the North! Strategies of the South in the Civil WarĪfter looking at the strategies of the North during the Civil War, let’s wrap up with the South’s military strategy in the Civil War. Not stopping there, less than two months later, in April, the North seized most of North Carolina. Next, in mid-February, they took Columbia and Charleston of South Carolina. This was coordinated by President Lincoln, leader of the Union, and the appointed Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Given their advantage of having high numbers of troops, resources, and money, in essence, the North mainly pursued an offensive strategy. In 1964, the South’s supply of foods and materials was cut off.As the Mississippi River was the South’s primary waterway for transportation of food and resources, and in the ideal position to isolate Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, this was the North’s great first win. In 1963, the Mississippi River was captured and in effect, sliced the South into two.In detail, the North’s strategy included 5 goals: This would cut the stream of goods going into and out of the South to eventually force them to admit defeat. To summarize, the North had the Anaconda Plan to surround the South’s territories, block the Atlantic Ocean, and take control of Mississippi. Now that we have recalled the fundamentals of the Civil War, let’s delve deeper into the military strategy of the North. The ‘North’ was against slavery, while the ‘South’ was pro-slavery because their economy primarily depended on slave labor.įor more, check out the other detailed article we have written on the trigger of the war! Click here to read it! The Civil War Strategies The root of the Civil War was the status of slavery in the nation, though there had been decades of tension between the North and South for decades. However, Confederate sympathy and sentiment did exist among the citizens. Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri did not secede from the U.S. Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia were the states that joined after the South’s Fort Sumter win. The first seven Southern states that seceded, forming ‘the South’ were Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas.The Northern states included California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
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