The New York herald., 1862-04-14


eral Halleck, who is now in the field, and will
be sure to give good account of himself
Meantime we observe that General Mitchell
has accomplished very brilliant and success
full movement. He has penetrated to Hunts
vile, Alabama, by which, to use his own words
he has succeeded in cutting the great artery
of railway communication between the South.
| ern States"
Lastly, at Yorktown the greatest struggle
of the war is at hand. At that point Richmond,
though many miles distant, is defended be-
hind intrenchments and by large, well armed
and powerful army, assisted BY the Mer-
rimac and her consorts, vessel which is worth
to the rebels thirty thousand men. Already
she has come out defantly from Norfolk
But it may not be long till summary
termination is put to her insolent career
Here the principal figures in the rebel army
are Leo, Johnston, Davis and Magruder;
and in the Union army the man to meet
them Is Mcclellan, whose labors will soon
be rewarded by the fall of Yorktown and the
capture of Richmond, the capital Of the Con-
federate States. and with it, perhaps, the whole
rebel Cabinet and Congress. Thus tho drama
draws near to its denouement and every
move on the chessboard becomes of great i'm
p0rtance, for one false move of the enemy
may result in his checkmate; while false
move on the part of the Union troops may
greatly protract the war, at the same time that
single dashing achievement may bring it
to speedy end. Hence the progress of the
conflict is watched at the present time with in
tense interest by the people Of the United
States and by all the nations of Europe
The bloody tragedy now being performed on
the North American continent is one of sur
passing grandeur, and, perhaps, the most i'm
portant in its consequences and results that
has ever been exhibited on the stage of this
world. There is no example of civil, or even
foreign, war; upon q scale ofsuch vast magni-
tude. There is no theatre of war in ancient or
modern times so extensive. There are more than
million of men in arms-men of the same race
and nation-contending against each other in
mortal strife; one army fighting to main
tain the integrity of the federal repub-
lie, and the other seeking to divide it
permanently into two geographical sections,
to be known as North and South. Never
was war inaugurated upon such tremendous
scale for causes so slight. Other nations have
thrown off the yoke Of their rulers when it be-
came intolerable. But here is a revolt which,
if triumphant, would be completely destructive
to the interests Of those engaged in it, reducing
them from being the component parts Of the
greatest Power on the earth to third or fourth
rate nation; and, what is equally strange, a con.
siderable section of Northern men have con-
spired to furnish them with an excuse for their
unnatural rebellion. have labored hard to
foment it, and are now doing their worst to
render j successful. But the great conserva-
tive masses of the people of the Northern States
have taken the 6eid to restore the government
founded by Washington and his compatriots;
and they will not lay down their arms till they
put down all the enemies of the Union, no
matter on which side of Mason and Dixon's
line they may be found, whether they are dis
unionists of the secession stamp or disunionists
of the revolutionary abolition stripe. The
situation Of the insurgents is desperate, and it
only remains for Mcclellan to give them the
finishing blow at Yorktown, and thus put an
end to the war, and to do this he must be fully
sustained by the War Department.
GENrIE HNr FOR ERrMoNr--E il