The Great Comet of 1861, also known The War Comet, was in the skies over strife-torn North America at the outbreak of the War Between the States.
Vanity Fair Magazine carried the above political editorial cartoon depicting commanding general of the Union army Winfied Scott as the comet. His Anaconda Plan was named by a newspaper editor as ridicule but Scott's waging of economic war is often credited as a crucial component of the North's victory.
