The New York herald., 1862-09-23

4
and enormous preparations for crushing out al
opposition, that the President issues this i'm
portant manifesto, and gives the people o
the South this chance. 1t is now the question
with them whether or not they are prepared
for the sake of the few miserable leaders Of thi
wicked rebellion to submit to this overwhelm
ing revolution in their social system. There
is the document. There is the time fixed fol
| the return of the rebellious States to the allie
glance of the federal government No event in
the history Of the world surpasses the one
now presented by the President, and which is
to be decided in a little over ninety days.
| The Campaign i'm virginia-Thc Duty OF
the Hour.
Now that the rebels, ia consequence of the
victories OF Gen. Mcclellan, have been compel
led to evacuate Maryland and retreat into Vir-
ginia by the way they came, in order to fall
back upon Richmond, to save it from captuQ,
| and to save the remnant Of their invading army
from destruction, the duty of preventing its es-
cape falls upon Gen. Halleck and the War De-
partmcnt; and it will soon be seen what amount
of capacity there is at Washington to render the
campaign decisive by the capture Of the whole
of Lees army. Mcclellan has done his part.
He has driven the enemy back from Maryland
across the Potomac, and it rests with the War
Department and the military authorities at
Washington to perform their parts by confning
the rebel army in the mountains Of Virginia,
and thus cutting off its supplies and reducing it
to starvation or surrender.
To accomplish this it will be necessary t.
send force rapidly to Fredericksburg and
Gordonsvillc, in order to seize the railroads and
sever the communication Of the rebels with
which they accomplish these movements de-
pends tine speedy success of the campaign or
the prolongation Of the struggle to next spring.
In the winter little can be done in Virginia
To finish the war with the year 1862 it will be
necessary to make hay while the sun Shines"
1t was a great blunder to withdraw Mcclellan
from Harrison's Landing 1t gave the oppor
tunity to the rebels, which they desired, to fall
upon Popes army, cut it up and demoralize it
before it could form junction with the army
of Mcclellan 1t was the same radical influence
in the Cabinet that divided the Army of the
Potomac and prevented its being reinforced at
the critical moment that caused it to retreat
from the James river to Washington; and the
terrible experiment was made to give Mcdowell
and Pope chance to become great generals.
After their miserable failure, when they were
even reinforced by the army OF Mcclellan, but
without the presence Of that general. he took
the same whipped armies, and with them he de-
featcd the rebel host, flushed with its victories.
The loss of human life or the safety of the re-
public seems never to have entered into the cal
culations Of the selfish politicians who hitherto
have had the control of the army Had it been
otherwise Mcdowell, who had been tried at
Bull run in July, 1861, and SO sadly failed then
and there. would never have had second chance
to fail on the same ground in August 1862. to
say nothing of his failure to reinforce McClel-
Ian from Fredericksburg when he heard the
sound of his cannon at Hanover Court House.
Had Harper's Ferry been taken proper care Of
from Washington, and had sufficient force
been sent up the south side of the Potomac to
uoiu eHS ioloo, tuS oa"y " A/Sc SOuiu AOe HaNO
recrossed into Virginia, and it would have been
all destroyed or captured by the victorious
army of Mcclellan after the battle of Sharps-
burg.
But, now that the rebels have succeeded in re-
crossing the Potomac in safety, it remains to he
seen what dispositions Of troops will be made to
intercept them in their retreat to Richmond
Thoroughfare Gap, Warrenton, Fredericksburg
and Gordonsville ought to be occupied imme-
diately with Union troops from Washington, in
order to head off the rebel army while McClel-
Ian presses on its rear and places it between
two fires. Let this be done with promptitude
and vigor, and the rebellion in Virginia will be
ended before the first frost.
DISMISSAL OF COMMANDER PREBLE.--No one
will condemn the show Of vigor exhibited by
- Al 4. ~