Tried to strangle the South during the Civil War?

Question

8 letters long, third letter is O, seventh letter is D, should look something like this... **O***D*

Answer 1

Blockade.

Answer 2

The Anaconda Plan was proposed in 1861 by Union General Winfield Scott to win the American Civil War with minimal loss of life, enveloping the Confederacy by blockade at sea and control of the Mississippi River.

In a letter from General Winfield Scott, to General George McClellan, Scott stated. . . . . .

It is the design of the Government to raise 25,000 additional regular troops, and 60,000 volunteers, for three years. ... We rely greatly on the sure operation of a complete blockade of the Atlantic and Gulf ports soon to commence. In connection with such blockade, we propose a powerful movement down the Mississippi to the ocean, with a cordon of posts at proper points ... the object being to clear out and keep open this great line of communication in connection with the strict blockade of the seaboard, so as to envelop the insurgent States and bring them to terms with less bloodshed than by any other plan.

Scott went on to warn against demands for a march on the Confederate capital of Richmond. Scott's plan involved two main parts.
1. Blockade the coast of the South to prevent the export of cotton, tobacco, and other cash crops from the South and to keep them from importing much-needed war supplies.
2. Divide the South by controlling the Mississippi River to cut off the southeastern states from the West. Scott considered this an "envelopment" rather than an "invasion", although it would require armies and fleets of river gunboats to accomplish

Answer 3

It was called the Anaconda Plan, to strangle the South by blocking all the ports and taking the Mississippi River.

Answer 4

That would be the blockade, right?