Battle of Port Royal

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In terms of war-making resources, the Union marginally outnumbered the Confederacy; the Union had more soldiers, bank capital, manufacturing output, iron, coal, fire arm production, warships, and naval officers. The Civil War thus looked as if it would be a joke because the many predicted that the war would only last one month due to the marginal differences in resources. However, after the First Battle at Bull Run, it was quickly discovered that the Confederacy would not submit so easily. In fact, they showed that they were very capable of victory, by successfully countering on the Union flank and giving them the upper hand in the battle . The Union was forced to retreat and at the same time, change up their strategy. Prior to the start of the war, the Secretary of the Navy felt that the best approach to the war was a blockade of Confederate ports. The Union defeat at Bull Run made his previous skeptics his supporters. Thus, the Anaconda Plan, to “suffocate Southern imports” was put into effect. One of the battles to establish the blockade was the Battle at Port Royal. Port Royal is the most significant battle of the war because it served as a moral victory, it changed the Confederate strategy, and it ultimately gave the Union control of the Atlantic coast which had a tremendous effect on the war.

The Battle of Port Royal took place on November 7 1861 in South Carolina, with the sole purpose of establishing a Union blockade, as shown in the quotation “the attack had been to obtain a southern harbor of refuge where the blockading ships could be coaled, supplied, and repaired.” The main reason for this is because of its size and location; the port sits between Charleston and Savannah, Georgia and it has a large enough harbor t...

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...iety, 1961.

"Battle Summary: Manassas, First, VA." U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your America. http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va005.htm (accessed February 11, 2012).

Coker, Mike. The Battle of Port Royal. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2009.

"Port Royal, SC." Civil War Today. http://civilwartoday.net/PortRoyal.aspx (accessed February 11, 2012).

Rickard, J.. "Battle of Port Royal, 7 November 1861." Military History Encyclopedia on the Web. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_port_royal.html (accessed February 11, 2012).

"Robert E. Lee (by Freeman) Vol II Chap.18." Sir Thomas Browne. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/People/Robert_E_Lee/FREREL/2/18*.html (accessed February 11, 2012).

"The Anaconda Plan." The American Civil War Home Page. http://www.civilwarhome.com/anacondaplan.htm (accessed February 11, 2012).

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