2014 VNMP LBG Seminar Session #5: War in the West

Ranger David Slay presents Vicksburg National Military Park's Licensed Battlefield Guide Seminar #5, "War in the West" at the park's visitor center on Tuesday, February 25, 2014.
War in the West:
I. Anaconda Plan
a. Blockade
b. Strong combined force of perhaps 80k men to move down the Mississippi, leapfrogging toward Nola.
c. Weaknesses
1. No ironclads.
2. Navy was too small to effectively blockade
3. Army not large enough
4. Critics called for an immediate overland campaign On to Richmond!
5. Scott's plan ultimately won the war.
II. Tennessee River Plan
a. Anna Ella Carroll
b. Tennessee River runs from South to North.
III. Kentucky
a. In April 1861. Governor Beriah Magoffin refused to send troops to either side.
b. Both sides began built fortifications along the border in the opening months of the war.
1. Cordon Defense. Davis political problems must defend the entire south.
2. Forts were chosen based on political lines, not defensive strengths.
c. General Polk occupied Columbus, Kentucky, on September 3.
1. Kentucky's Unionist legislature invited Federal troops in to drive away the invaders.
2. On September 6, Grant occupied Paducah and Southland, at the mouths of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers
IV. War in the West
1.Battle of Belmont, Missouri
2. Fort Henry
3. Fort Donelson
4. Shiloh
5. Corinth:
6. In Early June 1863, Memphis, New Orleans, and Corinth were in Union hands.
7. Though a Confederate counteroffensive into Kentucky threatened to derail the war plan, Vicksburg became the Key.
Musical Intro is an excerpt from "The Girl I left Behind Me" played on period instruments by Olde Town Brass at the Vicksburg Sesquicentennial Civil War Heritage Fair on April 5, 2013. Used with permission.