3 Questions
What was the purpose of the Union's Anaconda Plan?
To gain control of important ports along the Confederate coastline
What was the name of the Union sea fort that was fired on by the Confederates?
Fort Sumter
What was the primary purpose of the steamship Baltic?
To serve as a towboat and cotton lighter in Mobile Bay
Study Notes
- In 1860, a cultural divide had developed between the northern and southern regions of the United States primarily over slavery.
- Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 United States Presidential Election and because of his anti-slavery position, a number of southern states seceded in late 1860 and early 1861, forming the Confederate States of America.
- The American Civil War broke out when the Confederates fired on the Union sea fort of Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.
- At the beginning of the war, the Confederates were at a distinct naval disadvantage to the Union Navy because it lacked ships, infrastructure, and manufacturing capabilities.
- Control of the Confederate coastline was important because the Union's Anaconda Plan intended to blockade the Confederacy to cut off trade, including imported armaments.
- After Union victories at the Battle of Forts Hatteras and Clark and the Battle of Port Royal in late 1861, both the Confederate government and the individual Confederate states became more concerned with coastal defense.
- Baltic was taken to Mobile, Alabama, after her construction by Bragdon, but the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) says that she was built for the Southern Steamship Company.
- She was used as a towboat and as a cotton lighter in Mobile Bay off the Gulf of Mexico.
Test your knowledge of the naval aspects of the American Civil War, including key events, strategies, and naval capabilities of the Union and the Confederacy.
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