page_title: History of the United States Navy
section_title: American Civil War (1861–1865)
hierarchical_section_title: History of the United States Navy / Foundations of the "Old Navy" / American Civil War (1861–1865)
caption_attribution_description: Scott's great snake. Cartoon map illustrating Gen. Winfield Scott's plan to crush the Confederacy, economically. It is sometimes called the "Anaconda plan." The tail of the snake is wrapped around the flagpole at Washington D.C., with U.S. flag and liberty cap. New York has winged cap of "FREE TRADE" and a colorful soldier from one of its Zouave regiments; ships are entering the port of New York (unlike the blockaded southern ports). New Jersey has "Trenton 76 + 61" written. Delaware has "Union Peaches" written. Maryland has "We give in MD" written. Virginia has beehive with Stars and Bars flag (representing Richmond) and burning railroad bridge. West Virginia (separated from Virginia by dotted line) has man flying U.S. flag and waving sword. North Carolina has sketch of a man eating from a barrel labeled "Rosin" with the caption "POOR EATING". South Carolina has "CONTRABANDS" (runaway slaves) fleeing for Tennessee. Georgia has dilapidated "COTTON FACTORY" building falling apart. Alabama is complaining "DAM OLD VIRGINIA TOOK OUR CAPITOL" (the Confederate capital was moved from Montgomery to Richmond). Mississippi has sketch of "BURNING MASSA OUT". Louisiana shows idle men lying on barrels saying "Can't ship now" and a lynched "UNION MAN" hanging from gallows. Texas has sketch of "COSTLY SHOOTING $1000.00 A HEAD" (a Confederate man firing at fleeing slaves). Indian Territory shows Indian smoking pipe in front of teepees, cradleboard hanging from tree in background. The head of the snake is in Missouri, driving "Jackson &amp; Co." into Arkansas. "Kanzas"[sic] shows "Union Music" (sketch of advancing troops under U.S. flag). Iowa similarly shows "HAWK-EYE MARKSMEN" advancing. Illinois, Indiana and Ohio show corn, pork and wheat being speeded eastward by railroad. A cannon in southern Illinois (next to flagpole with U.S. flag) is pointed southwestward. Kentucky shows soldier with coonskin hat sitting on fence in name of "ARMED NUTRALITY"[sic]. Eastern Tennessee (separated by a dotted line from the rest of the state) shows "KNOCKSVILLE WHIG" in pugilistic attitude, next to flagpole flying U.S. flag. There are several engraving errors (due to fact that the plate had to be engraved in mirror-image form): the dollar sign and the "S" of "South Carolina" are backwards.
context_page_description: The history of the United States Navy divides into two major periods: the "Old Navy", a small but respected force of sailing ships that was notable for innovation in the use of ironclads during the American Civil War, and the "New Navy", the result of a modernization effort that began in the 1880s and made it the largest in the world by 1945.
  The United States Navy claims October 13, 1775 as the date of its official establishment, when the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution creating the Continental Navy. With the end of the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Navy was disbanded. Under first President George Washington, threats to American merchant shipping by Barbary pirates from four North African Muslim States in the Mediterranean led to the Naval Act of 1794, which created a permanent standing U.S. Navy. The original six frigates were authorized as part of the Act. Over the next 20 years, the Navy fought the French Republic Navy in the Quasi-War, Barbary states in the First and Second Barbary Wars, and the British in the War of 1812. After the War of 1812, the U.S.
context_section_description: Between the beginning of the war and the end of 1861, 373 commissioned officers, warrant officers, and midshipmen resigned or were dismissed from the United States Navy and went on to serve the Confederacy. On April 20, 1861, the Union burned its ships that were at the Norfolk Navy Yard to prevent their capture by the Confederates, but not all of the ships were completely destroyed. The screw frigate USS Merrimack was so hastily scuttled that her hull and steam engine were basically intact, which gave the South's Stephen Mallory the idea of raising her and then armoring the upper sides with iron plate. The resulting ship was named CSS Virginia. Meanwhile, John Ericsson had similar ideas, and received funding to build USS Monitor.
  Winfield Scott, the commanding general of the U.S. Army at the beginning of the war, devised the Anaconda Plan to win the war with as little bloodshed as possible. His idea was that a Union blockade of the main ports would weaken the Confederate economy; then the capture of the Mississippi River would split the South. Lincoln adopted the plan in terms of a blockade to squeeze to death the Confederate economy, but overruled Scott's warnings that his new army was not ready for an offensive operation because public opinion demanded an immediate attack.
  On March 8, 1862, the Confederate Navy initiated the first combat between ironclads when Virginia successfully attacked the blockade. The next day, Monitor engaged Virginia in the Battle of Hampton Roads. Their battle ended in a draw, and the Confederacy later lost Virginia when the ship was scuttled to prevent capture. Monitor was the prototype for the monitor warship and many more were built by the Union Navy. While the Confederacy built more ironclad ships during the war, they lacked the ability to build or purchase ships that could effectively counter the monitors.
  Along with ironclad ships, the new technologies of naval mines, which were known as torpedoes after the torpedo eel, and submarine warfare were introduced during the war by the Confederacy. During the Battle of Mobile Bay, mines were used to protect the harbor and sank the Union monitor USS Tecumseh. After Tecumseh sank, Admiral David G. Farragut famously said, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!". The forerunner of the modern submarine, CSS David, attacked USS New Ironsides using a spar torpedo. The Union ship was barely damaged and the resulting geyser of water put out the fires in the submarine's boiler, rendering the submarine immobile. Another submarine, CSS H.L. Hunley, was designed to dive and surface but ultimately did not work well and sank on five occasions during trials. In action against USS Housatonic the submarine successfully sank its target but was lost by the same explosion.
  The Confederate States of America operated a number of commerce raiders and blockade runners, CSS Alabama being the most famous, and British investors built small, fast blockade runners that traded arms and luxuries brought in from Bermuda, Cuba, and The Bahamas in return for high-priced cotton and tobacco. When the Union Navy seized a blockade runner, the ship and cargo were sold and the proceeds given to the Navy sailors; the captured crewmen were mostly British and they were simply released.
  The blockade of the South caused the Southern economy to collapse during the war. Shortages of food and supplies were caused by the blockade, the failure of Southern railroads, the loss of control of the main rivers, and foraging by Union and Confederate armies. The standard of living fell even as large-scale printing of paper money caused inflation and distrust of the currency. By 1864 the internal food distribution had broken down, leaving cities without enough food and causing food riots across the Confederacy. The Union victory at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher in January 1865 closed the last useful Southern port, virtually ending blockade running and hastening the end of the war.
caption: Cartoon of Scott's "Anaconda Plan"
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