The New York herald., 1863-07-14
The Great Battle or the War.

uencrai meaue 10 now Iollowlng up his VIC
tory at Gettysburg. His grand repulse of tn,
rebel general has resulted in the falling bacl
of Lee to strong defensive position on tn
northern bank of the Potomac, where he in
tends to try the fortune Of war in another bat
tie. To foil his strategy and to demolish hi
crippled army is the present task of Meade
and one which we believe he viii
fully accomplish. Should he be success
full in destroying tho remnant of Lee'
army, he will have contributed in an eminen
degree to bring the war to speedy con
clusion. But his name and fame will bt
identified by the future historian with the bat
tie OF Gettysburg more probably than with any
future battle he may fight. 1t is not always
the greatest or the most terrible battle that is
the most decisive in its results. The battle OF
mans In such numbers that their cause seemed
helpless and hopeless, might have been easily
rendered decisive, but was not, because it was
not vigorously followed up. Tho battle Of
Valmy was the decisive battle of the French
republic against the combined Powers Of Eu-
AVPS, shou6A Aou5ut Wy Ouiy SWOusy suVuooHu
men, led by Kellermann, o second rate general.
and though the Prussians were merely re-
pulsed, and by no means routed.
Unquestionably the greatest battle of this
war is that which took place at Gettysburg on
the three first days Of this month. There may
be hereafter other battles, some successful
and some adverse, and some, it may be,
with equal numbers engaged; but this will be
regarded in history as the decisive battle of the
war, and hold the same relation to the Southern
invasion that the battle Of Saratoga did to the
British invasion in the war of the Revolution
1t is greater than that of Pharsalia, in which
Caesar and Pompey played their respective
parts, and which decided the destiny of the
Roman republic; greater than that of Mara
thOn, in which the Persian invader was smitten
by Greece and his prestige forever destroyed;
greater than the decisive battle Of Bienheim, in
which Marlborough effectually humbled tho
power of France and cut short the dreams Of
universal conquest indulged in by Louis XIV;
greater than any battle fought by the forces of
the French republic at the time of the Revolu-
tion; greater than any fought in tho civil wars
of England; greater than Waterloo, which only
lasted single day, and fixed the fate of Eu-
rope. The troops engaged in the battle of
Gettysburg exceeded in numbers the armies
that fought in any Of these great battles, and
the fighting, too, was more desperate Never
have French or English troops shown such
tenacity aud endurance.
Had such battle taken place in Europe, one
or the other army would have given way, and
the result would have been Immediately decisive
Of the war. But it is different with troops who
are net ignorant hirelings, but are fighting for
something that they know. They may be de-
feated but their organization is not destroyed,
and 1t requires many defeats to insure destruc-
ton, unless the odds in numbers are over
whelming, or the defeat follows battle brought
on by such strategic marches as cut of re.
treat. Take the Army of the Potomac as
an illustration. We pass over the first battle
Of Bull run, because the troops who fought in
that were green and undisciplined military
mob. The army organized and trained by Nc
Clellan was different 1t fought at Williams
burg, at Fair Oaks, and in the terrible seven
days battles on the peninsula, aud yet 1t was
not destroyed two of these condcts--namely,
that Of Gaines Mills and that Of Malvern
Hill-presentng scenes Of the most fear
full carnage. Yet the armies on either
side survived to fight again. That Of the
rebels defeated Pope in q series of battles,
and was itself defeated by the very army
which retreated before It on the peninsula
Such Ia the tenacity of American troops.
When Mcclellan defeated Lee on the creek
Of Antietam in front Of Sharpsburg, the
slaughter was immense. Yet Lee retreated,
and, turning up on the other side of the Kappa
hammock, defeated Burnside and Hooker in two
general battles; and now, after coming North,
his insolent army, superior in numbers and
flushed with the pride Of successful INVASION"
has been "batfied and defeated" by q new
and untried general, leading the formerly
beaten Army of the Potomac. In his order
to the Union army on the day after the
battle General Meade says:-"Your task Is
not yet accomplished, and the Commanding
General looks to the army for greater efforts to
drive from our soil every vestige Of the presence
OF the invader" General Meade appreciates
too well the character Of Lee and his army to
assume that, because the rebel general failed
in his attempts to break the lines OF the Union
army ON the heights of Gettysburg, the cam
paign Is therefore ended and the rebel host
annihilated. On the contrary, be wisely warns
his troops that "greatcr efforts" are still re.
quired from them than those by which they
drove back the invader Ia the three days
battle.
In truth Meade is. now just in the position
which Mcclellan occupied after the battle Of
Antietam. And We may here observe that the
radical journals arc taking the opportunity of
depreciating Mcclellan by an odious comparison
with Meade. Both are excellent generals. But
IL was Mcclellan who organized and trained the