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{{Short description|Group created by the US Navy Department during American Civil War}}
The '''Blockade Strategy Board''', also known as the '''Commission of Conference''', or the '''Du Pont Board''', was a strategy group created by the [[United States]] [[United States Department of the Navy|Navy Department]] at outset of the [[American Civil War]] to lay out a preliminary strategy for enforcing [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s April 19, 1861 ''[[Union blockade|Proclamation of Blockade Against Southern Ports]]''. Enforcing this blockade would require the monitoring of {{convert|3,500|mi|km|0}} of [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and [[Gulf of Mexico|Gulf]] coastline held by the [[Confederate States of America]], including 12 major ports, notably [[Port of New Orleans|New Orleans]] and [[Port of Mobile|Mobile]]. The group, consisting of: [[Samuel Francis Du Pont]], who acted as chairman; [[Charles Henry Davis]]; [[John Gross Barnard]]; and [[Alexander Dallas Bache]], met in June to determine how best to cut off maritime transport to and from these seaports. Their reports for the Atlantic seaboard were used, with modifications, to direct the early course of the naval war. Their analysis of the Gulf Coast was not so successful, largely because the detailed oceanographic knowledge that marked the Atlantic reports was not available for the Gulf.

==Background==
[[Fort Sumter]] in [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston Harbor]] was [[bombardment|bombarded]] and seized by the [[Confederate States Army]] on April 12–14, 1861, thereby initiating the Civil War. Following the outbreak of hostilities, on April 19, President Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of all ports in the states that had seceded from the Union at that time: [[South Carolina in the American Civil War|South Carolina]]; [[Georgia in the American Civil War|Georgia]]; [[Florida in the American Civil War|Florida]]; [[Alabama in the American Civil War|Alabama]]; [[Mississippi in the American Civil War|Mississippi]]; [[Louisiana in the American Civil War|Louisiana]]; and [[Texas in the American Civil War|Texas]]. Later, when the coastal states of [[Virginia in the American Civil War|Virginia]] and [[North Carolina in the American Civil War|North Carolina]] also seceded, the proclamation was modified to include their ports as well.<ref>''Civil War naval chronology, 1861–1865,'' pp. I-9, I-12.</ref>

[[File:Scott-anaconda.jpg|thumb|left|An 1861 characterized map of General [[Winfield Scott]]'s plan for a Union blockade of Southern ports, known as the [[Anaconda Plan]].]]
The blockade, which existed only on paper at this time, became an integral part of the plan to persuade the seceded states to return to the Union that was proposed by General in Chief [[Winfield Scott]]. Although Scott's so-called [[Anaconda Plan]] was never formally adopted as a strategy to guide the conduct of the war, the U.S. Navy enforced the blockade to the best of its ability for the duration of the conflict.

At the beginning of the war, the Union Navy's ability to carry out its [[Blockade]] of Confederate maritime ports was woefully inadequate. It had only 90 ships of all types, and only 42 that were powered by steam. A frenzied program of shipbuilding and conversions of existing merchant vessels increased the number to 671 by the end of the war,<ref>Tucker, ''Blue and Gray Navies,'' p. 1.</ref> but as they came into service, their assignments had to be prioritized.

The person in Lincoln's [[Cabinet of the United States|cabinet]] most concerned with rationalizing the blockade was [[Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Salmon P. Chase]]. Treasury's [[Revenue Cutter Service]] was the agency most familiar with the nation's ports, and the knowledge of harbor bottoms held by its [[United States Coast Survey|Coast Survey]] would be needed by the naval commanders who patrolled their waters. He persuaded [[Secretary of the Navy]] [[Gideon Welles]] to set up a commission to study the entire Southern coast, and on June 25, 1861 Welles issued the necessary orders to Captain (later Rear Admiral) Samuel Francis Du Pont. At the same time, he ordered Commander (later Rear Admiral) Charles Henry Davis to the board to serve as secretary, and requested that Army Major (later Major General) John G. Barnard, chief of the Army Corps of Engineers, and Alexander D. Bache, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, lend their services.<ref>Reed, ''Combined operations,'' p. 7; ORN I, v. 12, p. 195.</ref> Other persons gave advice, but all reports issued by the commission were signed only by these four.

==Reports==
{| style="float: right; margin-left:2em" class="wikitable"class="wikitable"
|-
|[[File:Samuel francis dupont photo.gif|199x190px]] S. F. Du Pont, Chairman
|{{spaces|3}}
|[[File:Charles H. Davis.jpg|199x190px]] Charles Henry Davis, Secretary
|-
|[[File:Alexander Dalls Bache pers0117.jpg|199x190px]] Alexander D. Bache
|{{spaces|3}}
|[[File:John G Barnard.jpg|199x190px]] John G. Barnard
|-
|}
The board delivered seven reports to the Navy Department between July 5 and September 19, 1861. Each of them has been published as part of the [[Official Records of the American Civil War]]. In chronological order they are:
* July 5, 1861{{spaced ndash}}<abbr title="Official Records, Navies">ORN</abbr> I, vol. 12, pp. 195–198. Deals with [[Fernandina, Florida]] and its harbor. Recommends seizing it as the southern anchor to the Atlantic blockading line.
* July 13, 1861{{spaced ndash}}<abbr title="Official Records, Armies">ORA</abbr> I, vol. 53, pp. 67–73. Considers the South Carolina coast, particularly Bull's Bay, St. Helena Sound, and [[Port Royal Sound]]. Recommends seizure and occupation of at least one.
* July 16, 1861{{spaced ndash}}<abbr title="Official Records, Navies">ORN</abbr> I, vol. 12, pp. 198–201. Recommends dividing the [[Atlantic Blockading Squadron]] in two, to be separated at [[Cape Romain]] in South Carolina. Suggests ways to complete blockade between [[Cape Henry]] and [[Cape Romain]].
* July 26, 1861{{spaced ndash}}<abbr title="Official Records, Navies">ORN</abbr> I, vol. 12, pp. 201–206. Deals with the parts of the Atlantic blockade not covered in the reports of July 13 and 16.
* August 9, 1861{{spaced ndash}}<abbr title="Official Records, Navies">ORN</abbr> I, vol. 16, pp. 618–630. Distinguishes six regions of the Gulf coast, and restricts recommendations to the sections covering [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]] and [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]]. Suggests that [[Ship Island]] be captured as a staging ground for operations against either or both.
* September 3, 1861{{spaced ndash}}<abbr title="Official Records, Navies">ORN</abbr> I, vol. 16, pp. 651–655. Deals with Gulf coast other than the parts not considered in report of 9 August.
* September 19, 1861{{spaced ndash}}<abbr title="Official Records, Navies">ORN</abbr> I, vol. 16, pp. 680–681. Considers [[Ship Island]] and the lower [[Mississippi River]] in greater detail than report of August 9.

==Impact==
The recommendations of the board for the Atlantic blockade were mostly accepted, with modifications, by the Lincoln administration. The capture of [[Fernandina, Florida|Fernandina]], proposed as the initial offensive action of the Union Navy, was postponed until after the capture of [[Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries|Hatteras Island]] and [[Battle of Port Royal|Port Royal]]. The suggestion that Hatteras Inlet be blocked up was overruled by Flag Officer [[Silas Stringham]] and Brig. General [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin F. Butler]], the men who led the expedition.<ref>Reed, ''Combined operations,'', pp. 12–21.</ref> (The board had anticipated that its recommendations would not be followed to the letter. In their report, they included the statement that "These plans may undergo some modification in the hands of the person to whom their execution shall be intrusted.")<ref>Official Records, Navies I, v. 12, pp. 198–201.</ref>

The capture of [[Port Royal Sound]] also represented a divergence from the board's original plan. They had stated a preference for an attack on [[St. Helena Sound]], which was nearer to [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]] and also would have been harder for the Rebels to defend. The natural advantages of Port Royal were so great, however, that the administration chose to take it. Perhaps ironically, Captain (by then Flag Officer) Du Pont was selected to lead the naval contingent in the expedition against the harbor.<ref>Browning, ''Success is all that was expected,'' pp. 23–41.</ref>

The Gulf blockade diverged much further from board plans for several reasons. One of the most important is the lack of knowledge of the Gulf coast compared with the Atlantic. The hydrography was so imperfectly known that one of the board's more emphatic recommendations was that a Coast Survey vessel should be attached to each blockading squadron.<ref>Official Records, Navies I, v. 16, p. 655.</ref> This recommendation was accepted. The Coast Survey proved to be quite useful throughout the war.

Although [[Ship Island]] was taken in accord with the report of August 9, the Navy Department used it as the staging ground for [[David G. Farragut]]'s assault on and capture of [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]]. The board had opposed any immediate move up the [[Mississippi River]], not because it would be undesirable, but because they believed that it could not be done with the weapons at hand.<ref>Official Records, Navies I, volume 16, pp. 618–630.</ref>

The blockade of the southern extreme of the Texas coast also did not conform to board expectations. The problem there was that the port at [[Brownsville, Texas|Brownsville]], at the mouth of the [[Rio Grande]], also served the Mexican community of [[Matamoros, Tamaulipas|Matamoros]]. The international problems associated with the blockade there were exacerbated by a rebellion underway at that time in Mexico against Emperor [[Maximilian I of Mexico|Maximilian]].<ref>Wise, ''Lifeline of the Confederacy,'' pp. 183–186.</ref>

Although it may appear that the Blockade Strategy Board had only a minimal effect on the war, it nevertheless deserves respect because it was the first effort by the United States to conduct a war by rational principles, rather than simply reacting to events. As the armed forces did not have an Office of Naval Operations or a General Staff at the time, it served as a rudimentary surrogate. As such, it was an important forerunner of the present-day staff system.

==See also==
{{Portal|American Civil War}}
*[[Union Navy]]
*[[Confederate States Navy]]
*[[Blockade runners of the American Civil War]]
*[[Postage stamps and postal history of the Confederate States#Blockade mail|Blockade mail of the Confederacy]]
*[[Bibliography of early American naval history#American Civil War|Bibliography of American Civil War naval history]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
* ''Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion.'' Series I: 27 volumes. Series II: 3 volumes. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894–1922.
* [http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/records/list.cfm ''The War of the Rebellion'']: ''A compilation of the [[Official Records of the American Civil War|official records]] of the Union and Confederate Armies.'' Series I: 53 volumes. Series II: 8 volumes. Series III: 5 volumes. Series IV: 4 volumes. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1886–1901.
*United States Navy Department, Naval History Division, ''Civil War naval chronology, 1861–1865.'' Government Printing Office, 1971.
* Browning, Robert M., ''Success is all that was expected : the South Atlantic blockading squadron during the Civil War.'' Washington, D.C. : Brassey's, 2002. {{ISBN|1-57488-514-6}}
*Reed, Rowena, ''Combined operations in the Civil War.'' United States Naval Institute, 1978. {{ISBN|0-87021-122-6}}
*Tucker, Spencer C., ''Blue and Gray Navies; the Civil War afloat.'' Naval Institute, 2006. {{ISBN|1-59114-882-0}}
*Wise, Stephen R., ''Lifeline of the Confederacy: blockade running during the Civil War.'' University of South Carolina, 1988.

[[Category:Military history of the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Union Navy]]

Blockade Strategy Board - Revision history

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