TransmissionSip U.S. Civil War

Map of hostilities on the TransmissionSip theater of operations, showing only the most important battles

The Trans-Mississippi Civil War Theater in the United States is the Mississippi River and surrounding areas, where river and land battles took place between the flotillas and the army units of the northerly federals and southerners-confederates in 1862-1864 .

The strategic plan of the first Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Union’s Armed Forces, General Winfield Scott, was to assemble and train a significant army, send it to the Midwest in the fall of 1861 and take control of the Mississippi River . Having completed this part of the plan, the northerners split the territory of the rebellious Confederation in two and deprived it of such important states as Texas , Louisiana and Arkansas .

Given the specifics of the terrain - and the Mississippi was the main transport artery of the West - the fleet had to play a significant role in the planned operations.

The struggle at the Mississippi theater of operations mainly consisted of the northerners striving to capture key settlements and fortifications on the banks of the Mississippi Basin’s ships using naval artillery and infantry on the shore (including landing from ships), and the southerners sought to destroy the Union’s river fleet in order to regain control of the river.

As a result, with the capture of the city of Vicksburg by the federals and their gaining control over the entire Mississippi course, the position of the Confederation worsened significantly.

The South has lost control of the Ohio Valley economy and the political elite of the region. With the opening of commercial navigation (under the protection of northerners) in Mississippi, the economies of Ohio , Indiana , Illinois and Missouri received a powerful impetus and began to develop with a vengeance, which contributed to the shift of the center of sympathies in the region towards the federals.

The Midwest became unionist in both military and political terms.

Thus, the strategic operation, in which one of the main roles belonged to the fleet, had a significant impact on the course of the war and on the political situation both within the Union and the Confederation.