Union Blockade of Georgia's Coast

Even at the very beginning of the war, President Abraham Lincoln knew he would have to have some sort of trick up his sleeve that would give the Union more of an advantage. While the north had more resources and nearly twice as many soldiers, the south was going to put everything they had into the next four years. The battle in the seas would play a very key role in deciding the outcome of the Civil War. So Lincoln called for an all-out blockade of the Confederates coastline on April 19, 1861. The plan took about a year to materialize, but by 1862, everything was set up. Fleets were posted on major port cities, preventing barely any of the boats coming and going. In Georgia, the main focus was pointed towards Savannah, Georgia's most prominent port city. Once the south understood the North's plan, Jefferson Davis appointed Robert E. Lee the commander of the naval army. As the leader, Lee realized that it was becoming more and more impossible to protect the whole southern coast. He put large dispatches of troops at major cities and began to focus more on rail lines than the sea. The blockade stretched from Virginia to Florida and was very tough to get past, especially if you had a large boat. But one brave man, Edward C. Anderson, a blockade runner, decided to break through to get supplies into Savannah. On November 11, 1861, he piloted his boat through the blockade and successfully made his way into the city. Although, this escape in might have turned out not to be such a good thing. The Union learned of this and only bumped up its security along the Blockade line. The Confederates of Georgia had to make something to stop the Blockade that was quickly chocking the southerners. They created gunships that they would charge the Union fleet with. Some of the more famous ones, The Atlanta, The Macon, and The Savannah, were going to be used. Also lined up with them, torpedoes developed by Matthew Maury were ready for action. Unfortunately, these innovations did not stand a chance against the Union. Even though the Union had mealy 500 ships and were often thought of as a rag tag group, they were able to capture nearly 1,500 Confederate runner-ships. The Union Blockade was not entirely successful; almost 80 percent of ships were able to get by. Because the rebels were forced to send small ships through, the economy dipped. Cotton exports went down 95 percent, preventing the Confederates to trade or buy food. As a result, inflation went up, prices went up, and the economy sunk. The Union Blockade was not a battle, it barely killed anyone, but it was a major factor in why the Union came out on top.

Sources

Information

http://www.usmilitary.com/3359/civil-war-union-blockade/  

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3763   

Picture 

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/05/12/opinion/disunion_great_snake/disunion_great_snake-blog427.jpg