The New York herald., 1862-11-10

The Removal o9 General McCleaia n-Ths
Dems nds or the II adic ais and the Posi-
ttoa Of the Admi n sstra tion.
The significant event which we foreshsdowed
some weeks ago is now matter Of history.
General Mcclellan has been relieved Of the
command of the Army of the Potomac The
act Of his removal will create profound
sensation throughout the country. Among
the abolition radicals it will be hailed with
fanatieal joy, while among the conservatives
Of the North 1t will be accepted with doubts
and apprehensions of evil The radicals have
urged this movement as demanded by the late
elections, while the conservatives will contend
that the people, in these elections, have spoken
in favor of Mcclellan. In any view of the case
however. we cannot doubt that President Lin
coin has been guided by patriotic considera-
tions in yielding to pressure which. it seems,
he found it impossible longer to resist. Nor
the loss Of Mcclellan, that an officer Of the skill
abilities and successful experience Of General
Burnside has been promoted to his important
command at this most important crisis OF the war.
Still the question recurs, what are the causes
which. at this particular juncture, have resulted
in Gen. McClellan's removal? We do not
pretend to know the exact specifications against
lin; nor is this knowledge necessary for our
present purpose II is sufficient that he has
fallen q victim TO the Vaccinations Of the radi-
cal abolition faction. Their intrigues have
pursued him from the day thst he was first
called to the command Of the Army Of the Poto-
mao to the present hour; and his objectionable
crime has been his persistent refusal TO make
the cause OF the Union secondary to the Cause
Of negro emancipation. True, this crowning
offence has been covered up in the charges
that he is too Glow, too cautious, too timid, too
lnkewarm, too apprehcnsive of tho strength OF
the army of the enemy, and with too little con-
fdcnce in his own, and that he has thus lost
many opportunities for decisive victories, which
defeats Thus it is contended that he per
mitted the rebel army of Joe Johnston to
escape from Manassas, when he might have
destroyed it; that he delayed his advance
upon Richmond until his army was deci-
mated by disease, when by vigorous for.
ward movement he nigh. have pushed without
serious resistance into the rebel capital; that ne
permitted his army TO be turned on the Chicka-
hominy and nearly destroyed, and then retreat
ed when he might have advanced; and, finally,
that at Antietam ho was satisfied with doubt
ful victory, when he might have inflicted upon
the rebel army crushing defeat.
But against these accusations history will an
swer thai, after the first disastrous battle Of Bull
run. il was Mcclellan who reorgsnized the shat
tered army of the Union and saved the national
capital; that with the retreat Of the rebels from
Manassas the intermeddling abolition Jacobins
broke up all his we'll arranged plans for grand
success by dividing his army into three OF four
independent commands, all under the SUI
premc direction of an inexperienced civilian at
bis peninsu,sr campaign, was thus victimizcd,
aud that against the overwhelming forces oil the
enemy his army and the national capital were
again saved only through his admirable
management of that sanguinsry retreat to
Harrisou's Landing; that his recall from that
position was military mistake which would
probably have resulted in the loss of Washing
commsnd Of all our shattered forces AS
sembled within the lines of its defenccs
which he had constructed; and. finally, that at
Antietam he relieved Washington, Maryland
aud Philadelphia from the fearful dangers Of
powerful rebel host, which had cut up the
finest and most completely appointed army
ever mustered on this continent because that
army had been divided, against McClelians re-
monstrances, into three or four armies, which
the enemy was thus enabled, from his central
position, 10 attack with superior numbers and
defeat in detail
Upon this line Of defcace as military leader
Mcclellan may safely stand. 1t would have
his political ideas on the negro question tailed
with those Of General Fremont But he has
moi responded TO the shibboleth OF the aboli-
ton ultras, ard against threatened party mn-
tiny in the camp at Washington the President
has been constrained to the sacrifice they have
demanded. Let us hope that, " it'll this victim
to their lmplacabls enmity, they will cease to
From certain newspaper reports is would ap-
pear that the defeats Of the republican party
in these recent elections have been charged to
the retention Of Mcclellan at the head OF the
Potomac army when public opinion demanded
his removal. We believe, however, that the
President delayed his removal, in spite Of the
demands of the Jacobins, because he wisely
approhendod that had II been proclaimed in
advance Of these elections their results would
have been absolutely overwhelming against
the republican party.
What next? This displacement Of Mcclellan
we cannot imagine s the solitary act which the
President will consider essential TO the active
and harmonious prosecution Of The war. On
the other hand, we presume tha, !; is but the
entering wedge in great work OF icc6nstruc-
fion In The military and civil direction Of nnhlic