Five weeks into the Civil War, the Springfield Republican surveys the military landscape with cautious optimism, declaring "Not How Struck Yet" but expressing confidence that General Winfield Scott's comprehensive strategy will crush the rebellion. The paper's biggest focus is Virginia, where 20,000 Union troops are massing at Fortress Monroe under Major-General Benjamin Butler, with three thousand garrisoning the fort itself. The editors believe a major battle is imminent—either at Norfolk, Harper's Ferry, or along the James River at Sewall's Point, where federal gunboats recently destroyed a Confederate battery. Notably, the Republican dismisses Confederate strength claims, estimating rebel forces at around 50,000 rather than the boasted 150,000, and suggests Virginia militia are poorly armed and reluctant soldiers who will desert at the first opportunity. The paper also reports Virginia's forced secession vote on Thursday, calling it a "burlesque" conducted under threat of death for Union voters and Confederate supervision of the polls.

This page captures the war's early momentum phase, just after Fort Sumter and before major bloodshed had tempered Northern confidence. In May 1861, the Union still believed swift military action under Scott's leadership could restore the nation without prolonged conflict. The focus on Virginia as the decisive theater—and the breathless anticipation of battles at Fortress Monroe and Norfolk—reveals how Americans expected the war to be won through military maneuver rather than attrition. The Republican's dismissal of Confederate capacity and optimistic reading of border state loyalty (Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri) shows how Northern newspapers were still calibrating public expectations, even as they braced for serious fighting ahead.

• The paper cites a Revolutionary War-era anecdote from 'old parson Weems' biography of Washington' about Virginia militia being 'a disorderly militia, who would come and go as they please—get drunk and sleep where they pleased.' The editors use a 60-year-old character sketch to explain why current Virginia troops are poorly disciplined—a casual but cutting insult wrapped in historical authority.
• Two reckless New York Zouaves are credited with sneaking into Alexandria, Virginia at night and removing a Confederate secession flag 'which could be seen from Washington and was considered an insufferable insult.' This is treated almost as a prank, yet the paper notes it satisfied public honor sufficiently that serious military intervention isn't needed.
• The Republican reports that Confederate General Bragg at Pensacola invited President Jefferson Davis to witness an attack on Fort Pickens on May 15th 'if he found things all right'—but the attack never happened. The paper wryly notes 'things are not all right yet,' suggesting Southern leaders were all bluster.
• The blockade will ultimately consist of 64 vessels with 37 regular warships and over 8,000 men—an enormous naval mobilization that the paper confidently claims will stop the 'piratical game' unless foreign adventurers get involved. The London Times had doubted the blockade would stop British and French ships; the Republican boasts it's already turning back English vessels.
• The paper mentions General Harney reassuring Missouri slaveholders 'that the government has no designs on their peculiar property'—a key early concession that Union strategy explicitly protected slavery in loyal states, even while crushing rebellion.

• The Republican invokes General Scott's personal motto: 'never yet sacrificed a division of an army, never lost a battle, and never failed in a campaign.' Scott was 75 years old in May 1861 and would be replaced as commanding general by July; his 'Anaconda Plan' of patient strangling through blockade and river control would take four years to achieve, not the months this paper expects.
• The paper names Colonel Robert E. Lee as commander of Virginia troops at Norfolk. Lee had not yet joined the Confederacy formally (that happened in April 1861), and by summer he would become the South's most celebrated general—a trajectory the Springfield Republican couldn't yet predict from this May snapshot.
• Benjamin Butler, the new commander at Fortress Monroe, is mentioned confidently here as the mastermind of coming operations. Butler would become one of the war's most controversial figures—later infamous for the 'Woman Order' in New Orleans and his failed command at Petersburg. At this moment, though, Northern papers saw him as a promising military talent.
• The paper's breathless coverage of Fortress Monroe as an imminent battle site proved premature. While there would be naval action nearby (the USS Monitor vs. CSS Virginia ironclad duel came in March 1862), the expected grand battle for Norfolk never materialized as a decisive engagement.
• Jeff Davis's Confederate Congress adjourned to reconvene July 20th in Richmond, and the Republican sarcastically hopes 'the concern gets used to moving. It may have to move briskly before long'—a prescient jab, though Richmond would remain the Confederate capital despite repeated threats until 1865.