The New York herald., 1861-12-07

with the support Of six out of nine daily ors'
and nearly all the weeklies, would have come
out of the race twenty-four thousand behind his
opponent Where, then, il the boasted infiu-
ence Of the Tribune and Times !? Circumstances
elected Mr. Opdyke, or in other words, he owes
his success to the division Of his opponents, and
not to the newspapers supporting him.
Tho Rebel Army-Its Omcers, Numbers,
Organization and Localities.
There is considerable disparity in the various
estimates made as to the aggregate strength Of
the rebel army in the field. They range be-
tween $50, ,0O0-the lowest igure-and 100000,
the highest. In Yanceys recent after dinner
speech to the Fishmongers' Society of London
he adopted the smaller figure. A letter that
has been published--written by an English OIL
Ger serving with the rebels-gives the same
estimate. Judge Ochiltree, Of Texas, in pub
lie harangue recently delivered by him in the
South, puts the strength of the rebel army at
100000. Other estimates have been made
which run up the aggregate strength to half
million. But to set at rest all these varying and
conflicting speculations we publish to-day de-
tailed statement of the whole military organi-
zation of the rebels, compiled from the highest
authorities and the most authentic records, with
the aid Of additional private information. This
statement shows that the rebels have in the field
four hundred and fifty regiments which, re-
ducing the average strength of regiment to
eight hundred nen-which is probably about
the nearest approximation to the truth-gves
an aggregate force of 100000 men,
To raise this large army the South has had to
resort to compulsory means-to drafting, con-
scription, impressment, and the lash of infuriat-
ed public opinion-even although there was
no resource but that of military life left for
her young men, On the other hand, our still
more immense army of 100000 men has been
raised by voluntary enrolment alone, the only
influence acting upon the volunteer being the
sentiment Of patriotism and love for the Union
of our fathers. That contrast is the best COM
mentary that can be made upon the existing
war and the mode in which it is viewed in the
separate sections.
When we published, some couple Of months
ago, the condition of the rebel army at that
time, its accuracy was 80 strikngly apparent
that it caused great commotion in Richmond
and throughout the South, and the subordinates
of the War Department in Richmond were ac-
cused of having violated their trust and sup
piled us surreptitiously and traitorously with
The information set forth in the HERALD Now,
we want to disclaim, in advance, any RESPONSE
bilty ON the part of the subordinates Of the
rebel War Department for the full and correct
statement which we to-day publish. The facts
come to us, not from subordinate officials, but
from higher sources, and they may be regarded
and taken as the nearest approach to correct
ness that can be arrived at. They vary, in some
respects, from the official records on file at
Richmond; but that is owing to the fact that
those records are so loosely kept as to be en-
tirely unreliable For instance there are
regimental and company organizations of vari-
GUS States enumerated on our list which
are not to be found on the official records
of the rebel War Office; but we have supplied
this deficiency from other sources, which it
would be manifestly imprudent for us to make
known at this time. 1t may be that, from the
general slovenliness and inattenton manifested
on the part of the Richmond officials, there may
be various errors in the personnel of the regi-
mental and other officers, many of whom may
have ceased, through death, promotion or re-
signation, to occupy the positions assigned to
them; but we rather fatter ourselves that, on
the whole, our statement will commend itself in
rebel circles as astonishingly correct And we
might here suggest to Mr.. Jefferson Davis the
propriety of filing it away among his rebel
archives for future reference.
The aggregate strength Of 100000 men,
which our tables give to the rebel army, may
fairly be regarded as the maximum which they
are capable of attaining. They have been pre-
pairing this rebellion for many years past, and
have already put forth their full strength In
this effort they have exhausted themselves, and
the disorganization of that force will probably
be more rapid than its organization apparently
was. With only moderate effort on the part
of the national government we have been able.
without any preconcert, without impressment,
pulsion, to put in the field an army of nearly
double the number, thoroughly equipped, and
supplied with the most improved arms and mu-
nitions Of war. Our preparations are now COM
plete, and the vast machine of our military
power has only to be once fairly started before
we shall see the rebel hordes melt away like
frostwork before the warm rays of the sun.
PROGRESS OF IMMoRALTY.-Poor old Greeley
is trying to induce us to join him in making
gambling bet about our circulation The
wretched creature is sad specimen of the
effect Of political trials and intrigues upon the
morals The other day poor Greeley went into
the gift enterprise business, and offered to
gamble goldpens for subscriptions to the Weekly
Tribune; but now he does worse. The spectacle
of this broken down abolitionist editor running
about the city and offering gambling bets to all
takers is very sad and moves us almost to
tears. About Raymond we hardly feel so bad
ly; for the Times has always been q stock gam
bling concern, and now Raymond has gone to
Albany to lobby-gamble railroad bills through
the Legislature. But, unlike Raymond, Gree
ley was once an honest, anti-gambling man,
and has heen attacking Rem Woods lottoru