Making the Blockade a

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Making the Blockade a Riality

• How drowned river valleys assisted in blockading
  Confederate ports.

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How Would You Prevent This?
Europe
TRADE
Confederate States of America
Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries,
The University of Texas at Austin.
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Anaconda Plan
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Your Task

• You are part of the Union Navy, and have been
  appointed to the the Blockade Strategy Board.
• President Lincoln and General-in-Chief Winfield
  Scott have given you and the Board the task of
  figuring out how to stop trade between the South
  and Europe.
• As part of the Board you will routinely receive
  reports from your scouts with additional
  information that may help you plan.When you
  receive this new information, you may immediately
  begin changing your plan accordingly.

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Problems and Limitations

• There are a few problems you will discover as you
  begin to formulate your plan to present to
  President Lincoln.
• Your job is to solve these problems, and come up
  with a viable solution.
• Limitations
• The Union has a small navy
• Most ships are sailing vessels (quite slow)
• Ships need to stay close together to be an
  effective blockade
• Nearly 3500 miles of coastline needs to be
  blockaded
• Most ports will have protection, not allowing
  ships to be within range
• Ships can only travel so close to shore without
  running aground

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Directions

• Form into groups of 3 or 4 students
• Using the maps and directions given you by the
  scouts (me) come up with your plan to stop
  Southern trade with Europe.
• Answer the questions that accompany each scouting
  report, and be prepared to share/discuss with the
  class.
• When a new scouting report is received, review it
  with the group, make any changes to your plan
  based on the new report, answer the questions,
  and be prepared to discuss with the class.

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Report 1

• The following map was provided to you by the
  scouts.
• It shows you nearly 3500 miles of coastline that
  needs to be accounted for in the blockade.
• At its height, the Union Navy may have been close
  to 500 ships.
• Not all of which could be used for blockading,
  and many needed to be used to ferry supplies from
  fort to fort or ship to ship.
• You have 15 fleets of ships to place on this map
  in an attempt to effectively stop trade with
  Europe.
• Represent each fleet by one small dot in the
  water on the map.
• Be sure to consider entire coastline, from Texas
  in the west to Virginia in the east.
• Once your group has placed each fleet, answer the
  questions and prepare to discuss with the other
  board members.

Courtesy of the Arizona Geographic Alliance
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Report 2

• Recognizing that more information is needed, the
  scouts have provided you with the following
  update
• A map showing major Confederate ports and rivers.
• With this new information make any adjustments to
  the placement of your fleets.
• Once you have decided how to place the fleets,
  answer the questions and prepare to share with
  the rest of the board.

Courtesy of the Arizona Geographic Alliance
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Report 3

• Your scouts have come back with some interesting
  information.
• Most of these ports are located on rias.
• Rias, also known as drowned river valleys. Over
  time as water levels rose from the last ice age,
  the river valleys filled in with water,
  drowning the valley and making a natural cove
  or bay. Rias can also be created when the land
  sinks and fills in with ocean water.
• This animation shows the ria development in
  England and Francehttp//www.discoverysoftware.co
  .uk/GallerySeaLevel.htm
• Look at the dark area on the map. This means the
  water is probably too shallow for a ship.

Courtesy of Sons of the South (www.sonsofthesouth.
net)
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Report 3

• Each group of Board members will be given a map
  of one port, and 1 fleet of five ships.
• You are now responsible for this port only.
• How would you stop trade from leaving this port?
• Draw one 1/8 inch long line for each ship.
• Once each of your five ships are placed, answer
  the questions, and prepare to share your findings
  with the Board.

Courtesy of Sons of the South (www.sonsofthesouth.
net)
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How successful was the blockade?

• President Abraham Lincoln set up the massive
  blockade effort on April 19th, 1861. The United
  States Navy operating under the President and
  Union command commissioned over 500 ships, and
  while often rag tag in appearance, they were
• greatly successful, leading to the capture or
  destruction of nearly 1,500 smaller, Confederate
  Blockade runner ships.
• http//www.usmilitary.com/3359/civil-war-union-b
  lockade/

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According to Edwin Punchard

• "This? reminds me of how when I was a boy we
  had to get our cotton to Brownsville during the
  war and send it through Mexico to the markets in
  Europe. From Brownsville and ?, Mexico, it was
  shipped across the ocean. One could see, the long
  wagon trains of cotton, drawn by oxen, all
  through the fall of the year as they slowly
  mended their way to the Mexican border. The
  reason for this was that part of the time the
  Texas ports were blockaded and all the time
  enemies were on the watch to confiscate produce
  of any kind, and especially cotton, as it sold
  for fifty cents a pound or more, during the
  blockade.

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According to Edwin Punchard

• "There would be from ten to twenty bales to the
  wagon and a train of wagons from ten to twenty in
  number. When they camped at night, they were
  drawn up in a circle to form a breastwork for
  defense from the robbers and Indians. These trips
  required from one to three months. If it was
  during rainy season, then they often had to camp
  by the creeks and rivers until they run down, for
  you must remember this was before the day of the
  bridge."

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Final Task

• You are the ship, the ria, or the port.
• Create an I am poem, taking on the role of one
  of these objects, seeing things from its point of
  view.
• Be creative with this, as you will be sharing
  this with the class tomorrow.
• Begin in class today, complete tonight.
• Drawing on your knowledge and experience from
  this activity, you will answer this essay
  question What impact or significance did the
  physical geography of southern ports have on
  influencing the outcome of Winfield Scotts
  Anaconda Plan? Use a specific example to make
  your argument.
• _ Complete tonight for homework.

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Sources

• http//www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/ward_191
  2/atlantic_north_1803.jpg
• http//alliance.la.asu.edu/azga/
• http//www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-w
  ar/1861/october/southern-ports-harbors.htm
  (permission pending)