During the American Civil War, the Union controlled the mighty Mississippi River and thus strategically obtained major advantages for the continuous success of their cause. After years of postwar debates about the implications of the Union’s control of the Mississippi, the importance of the river’s strategic accession by the Union was finally and clearly established. The Mississippi River was key to the Union’s wartime victories, and the control of its tributaries, known as the Mississippi Central Railroad and the Tennessee and Alabama Railroad, helped to facilitate cotton’s movement north to the Midwest and Northeast. Through the Union’s control of the Mississippi, the capital traditionally earned from the south’s cotton mills was invested in new factories that created jobs and attracted a large number of population shifts.
At the start of the war, the Mississippi River contained a strategic buffer zone along the eastern shoreline to impede Confederate advances from coastal positions. As the river was already the South’s primary transportation artery, the Union could not ignore the Mississippi. The Union seized numerous forts and strongholds along the river, and in 1862, the Union Navy captured Memphis, the Confederacy’s largest commercial centre on the Mississippi. This included the capture of a vast array of naval vessels that could be used to protect the Union’s internal waters.
The control of the river split the Confederacy, blocking Confederate forces from the eastern states and isolating the Trans-Mississippi states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. The Union’s increased presence on the Mississippi threatened Confederate mobility and the shipment of vital supplies to the South. With the capture of Memphis, the Northern navy gained control of the longest stretch of the river and its tributaries, thus allowing the Union to transport large numbers of troops through the region.
As the river was used to transport war materials, supplies, and troops, the authorities developed special locks and dams to control the flow of the river. This was especially important as the stream of warships on the Mississippi required the channels to be deep enough for the vessels to travel freely and safely. By controlling the river’s flow, the Union could also provide the necessary amount of water for the naval vessels to move quickly through the various waterways. In the meantime, the Union could easily block the offensive movements of the Confederacy, thereby denying its effective operations.
Furthermore, the Union army used the logistics of the Mississippi to meet its own tactical needs. By controlling the entire length of the river, the Union moved troops and supplies from the Southern states up to the Central and Northern states. This allowed the Union forces to move swiftly and efficiently in the Western theater, while the difficult terrain of the Eastern theater often delayed the Confederate armies. With the Union’s control of the Mississippi, the Union was able to gain key victories at battles such as the Vicksburg in 1863.
The control of the river also allowed the Union to cut off the Confederate states from the supplies they needed to sustain their armies. Since the Confederates were unable to gather the same amount of supplies as the Union, the Union had the advantage of having a greater number of resources at its disposal. Furthermore, the Union movement and supply lines throughout the South were largely unimpeded by the Confederate forces due to the Union’s control of the Mississippi River, a major arterial waterway.
The Union’s control of the Mississippi River was a crucial component of the Union strategies during the American Civil War. It provided the Union with free-flowing access to the resources and supplies that enabled it to launch offensives and control the flow of resources to the South. Additionally, it strengthened the Union’s already superior force capacity, allowing it to exploit its advantages and gain invaluable victories.
Destruction of Southern Property
The Union’s control of the Mississippi opened up further routes to the destruction of Southern property, an effort which had commenced at the start of the civil war. Throughout this period Union gunboats ceremoniously shelled and destroyed railroad bridges, supplies, stores, and towns. These methods, combined with the Confederate’s frequent inability to protect towns from the Union’s presence, created a spiral of destruction. By the end of the war, much of the Confederacy’s infrastructural wealth had been lost.
King Cotton Diplomacy
The Union’s control of the Mississippi River had an impact far beyond the Confederacy. It enabled the US to threaten the British Empire with what was known as ‘King Cotton Diplomacy’, or the threat of burning the entrance to the British cotton market at the mouth of the Mississippi River. This was a key foreign policy tool employed by the US, since the British Empire had developed increasingly closer economic relations with the Confederacy during the war.
Implications on Economic Recovery
The Union’s control of the Mississippi River was a key factor in the economic recovery of the defeated Southern states after the war. After the war, a number of new industries, ranging from steel production to road construction, grew in the upper mid-west and other parts of the South due to the Union’s control of the Mississippi River. The access to the massive river allowed for transportation of materials and resources in both directions, allowing for a much faster and smoother recovery than if the Confederacy had remained the primary controlling force in the region.
Long-Term Implications
The aftermath of the war also led to the establishment of the Black River, which reduced the dependency of the lower Mississippi states on the Union. Since the Black River was separate from the Mississippi, Southern states were able to transport goods without passing through Union waters. This allowed the two sides to rebuild better relations, as the Union was no longer seen as an occupying force. This also led to the signing of the Memphis Agreement, which officially granted freedom and autonomy to the South.
