The main purpose of the Anaconda plan was to defeat the rebellion by blockading southern ports and controlling the Mississippi river. This would cut off and isolate the south from the outside world. An Anaconda is a snake that squeezes and suffocates it's victim. The Union's advantages as a large industrial power and its leaders' political skills contributed to decisive wins on the battlefield and ultimately victory against the Confederates in the American Civil War. Although a tactical defeat, the publicity of the battle of Fort Wagner led to further action for black U.S. troops in the Civil War, and it spurred additional recruitment that gave the Union Army a further numerical advantage in troops over the South. Union forces besiege
