Scott's Strategies To Defeat The Confederacy

shaped the Federal strategy that was ultimately used to defeat the Confederacy. It was a rational and enlightened policy. However, the events that happen in war are not easily controlled and conciliation faced two major challenges from the beginning. The first challenge stemmed from the mere existence of a competing policy hatched in Missouri. The second, more serious challenge came from the soldiers in the ranks. Even as the senior Union leadership formulated the conciliatory policy, forces were already hard at work that significantly undercut and undermined it. (Pg. 23)
Commanders Scott and McClellan epitomized the conciliatory policy at the war’s outset. Scott proposed a policy of careful restraint. In addition, he urged a policy of utmost moderation should any of the Southern states attempt to leave the Union. He stated that the government should assert its continued authority by the symbolic device of stationing warships off Southern ports to continue the collection of import duties. Scott’s entire proposal aimed at avoiding in the hope that an eventual compromise might be reached. (Pg. 26) …show more content…
Additionally, in his memorandum to the incoming Secretary of State, William Seward, he noted that the incoming Lincoln administration had four potential courses of action. First, they could initiate a full-scale invasion of the South, but Scott painted that option very bleakly. As a second possibility, the incoming administration could adopt the Crittenden compromise or some other conciliatory formula. A third option, if the administration preferred not to compromise, was to close Southern ports and collect the duties on foreign goods from warships stationed off the blockaded harbors. However, the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter completely ended the possibility of a peaceful solution to the crisis. (Pg.