J.B Elliot, Scott's Great Snake (1861)

In 1861, at the outset of the Civil War, Union General Winfield Scott, who was convinced that war would be long and slow, proposed a plan to defeat the South economically and militarily by setting up blockades at Southern ports to cut off their imported supplies and stop their cotton exports. He also wanted to send a major offensive down the Mississippi River to divide the Confederacy. However, many Northerners disagreed with Scott, thinking the war could be ended by a quick capture of Richmond and criticizing his plan for being too cautious and indirect. The press thus jokingly dubbed Scott's proposal “the Anaconda Plan,” a reference to both constricting the South's supplies and the slow process by which a snake kills its prey. This is a cartoon propaganda map from 1861 in reference to Scott’s so-called Anaconda Plan. By 1862, though, it had become widely understood that the war was not going to be over quickly and Scott’s plan became widely accepted and adopted. "The Anaconda Plan" ended up heavily contributing to the eventual Northern victory.