Throughout the American Civil War, military engineering, specifically ponton bridges, substantially affected the conduct of the war by serving as a force multiplier for the opposing armies. Ponton bridges allowed the Northern armies to tighten their stranglehold on the Confederacy and complete the “Anaconda Plan” adopted at the beginning of the war. During the campaigns of 1864-65, the final year of the war, these bridges enabled Northern military campaigns. As a result, the prolonged Richmond-Petersburg Campaign forced the capitulation of the Army of Northern Virginia just one week after the campaign's conclusion.