Developments in the art of war are made all the time. After all, there always seems to be at least one war being waged somewhere in the world, allowing for a great deal of testing and experimentation with new weapons and new methods. The American Civil War was a crucible in which a number of developments were made in warfare, and the Civil War can also be seen as the period of the development of the modern naval power. This was made possible in part through the efforts of General Winfield Scott, the architect of the blockade plan utilized against the South in an effort to prevent the region from trading goods, acquiring weapons, or gaining support from foreign powers. Scott’s role has been debated given that the plan he devised was not implemented directly but became government strategy because Lincoln believed it might be effective. The blockade was only partially effective, but as part of the overall strategy late in the war, it did contribute to the success of the Union and would become a tactic imitated for other wars. Scott was one of America’s most important tacticians and would help usher in an era of American strategic studies, and his role should be recognized.