1861 May 2nd

May 2 1861 Thursday

Go to May 3 1861

USA. Union General-in-Chief Major-General Winfield Scott presented his so-called “Anaconda Plan” to subdue the Confederacy by a process of blockade and territorial dismemberment along the line of the Mississippi River. He proposed the imposition of a naval cordon capable of enveloping the seceded states with a total maritime blockade. He also proposed an offensive movement down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, in order to extend the blockade and envelop the insurgent states. He stated that this strategy would bring the secessionists to terms “with less bloodshed than by any other plan.” The key to the Anaconda Plan was control of the sea and inland waterways by the Union Navy. The strategy of victory was (a) to strengthen the blockade, (b) to split the Confederacy along the line of the Mississippi River, and (c) to support land operations by amphibious assault, naval gunfire and river transportation.

Maryland. The Maryland Committee on US Relations, “in view of the seizure of the railroads by the General Government and the erection of fortifications,” presented resolutions appointing commissioners to US President Abraham Lincoln to ascertain whether any suitable arrangements with the US government were practicable for the maintenance of the peace, the honour of the state and the security of its inhabitants. The appointed commissioners were: Otho Scott, Robert M McLane, and William J Ross.

Union Organisation

Commander in Chief: President Abraham Lincoln
Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin
Secretary of War: Simon Cameron
Secretary of the Navy: Gideon Welles

Pacific Squadron: John Berrien Montgomery
Potomac Flotilla: James Harmon Ward

General–in-Chief: Winfield Scott

Department of Annapolis: Benjamin Franklin Butler awaited

Department of the East: John Ellis Wool

Department of Florida: Harvey Brown

Department of New Mexico: Vacant

Department of the Pacific: Edwin Vose Sumner awaited

• District of Oregon: George Wright

Department of Pennsylvania: Robert Patterson

Department of Texas: Vacant

Department of Utah: Philip St George Cooke

Department of Washington: Joseph King Fenno Mansfield

Department of the West: Edmund Brooke Alexander temporary

Confederate Organisation

Commander in Chief: President Jefferson Finis Davis
Vice-President: Alexander Hamilton Stephens
Secretary of War: Leroy Pope Walker
Secretary of the Navy: Stephen Russell Mallory

Department of Alexandria: Philip St George Cocke

• Alexandria Line: Philip St George Cocke

Department of North Carolina: Theophilus Hunter Holmes

• Defences of North Carolina: Theophilus Hunter Holmes

Department of South Carolina: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

• “Forces in Charleston”: Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

Department of Texas: Earl Van Dorn

Department of West Florida: Braxton Bragg

• “Forces in Pensacola”: Braxton Bragg

District of Louisiana: David Emanuel Twiggs

• “Forces in New Orleans” “Army of Louisiana”: Braxton Bragg

Defences of Savannah: Alexander Robert Lawton

Potomac Line: Daniel Ruggles

“Forces in Harper’s Ferry”: Thomas Jonathan Jackson

“Forces in Norfolk”: Walter Gwynn

Forces in Richmond: Joseph Eggleston Johnston

Union Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

Major-General USA

Winfield Scott

Brigadier-General USA

John Ellis Wool
William Selby Harney
Edwin Vose Sumner

 Confederate Generals

Note: Italics, awaiting confirmation of the commission

Major-General PACS

David Emanuel Twiggs

Brigadier-General ACSA

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard
Braxton Bragg

Brigadier-General PACS

Alexander Robert Lawton
Milledge Lake Bonham