The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1863-01-18

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| French Minister In Mexico, whS Aad beenCnaTso
d'Aftaires TO the republic Of Texas pa a0n y
II. becoming One Of tho United States, wa.
vehemently opposed to its annexation, and was
active in his endeavors TO prevent 1t. "Even At
that date" says Benjamin, "the dispatches Of
Mr.. GuiSot, which bad an opportunity of read
ing, were filled with arguments to show that the
interests of Texas were identical with those Of
France, and that both would be promoted BY
the maintenance Of q separate nationality In
| Texas"
What effect this intercepted correspondence
has had upon the ultimate destination Of General
Banks expedition 1t Is scarcely necessary 10
say. The coincidence of the capture Of these let
tors and of the sending to the Gulf Of 30 large a
force, when II was needed TO cooperate with
Burnside In the operations against Richmond,
is sufficiently striking TO induce the belief that
one Of the main objects of the expedition Is 70
check French designs upon Texas. Now, we
think it would have been better to have lefs
Texas to take care Of itself, or tho Confsde-
rates to eight the French for It's possession for
the present, and to have employed the force
sent to the Gulf under Banks in striking at the
rebel capital, the head and the heart Of the re-
bellion. We could afford to wait till more
convenient season for the recovery Of Texas;
but we cannot afford to postpone the capture
OF Richmond and the destruction Of the rebel
army Of Virginia. If there be any reality in
the scheme attributed to Napoleon, the best
way to defeat it is to whip tho rebel army in
front of our national capital, instead Of wasting
our strength In distant expeditions and
perhaps protecting territory for tho ultimate
benefit Of the enemy instead Of for ourselves.
| If, on the other hand, this be scheme got up
between Slidell and Louis Napoleon to divide
our armies and lead them of on false scent,
| the administration has fallen into the trap. Az
appears from one of Bsnjamin's letters to Mr..
Mason. the entente cordiole between the Emperor
and Siidell is by far too strong to admit of an
Interpretation to this correspondence which
would show French hostility to the Southern
confederacy. These dispatches, in whatever
light they may be viewed, are well calculated
to awaken apprehension about the future of the
country. But the moral to be derived from
them is, sueh'a prosecution of the war as will
speedily strike down the main armies of the
rebels in Virginia and the Southwest.
CURIOUS LETTER OF THE PRESIDENT 10 GEN.
McCIELIAN.-It Is known to our readers that
the radical journals, after the publication of
| Burnside's letter cxonerating General IIaileck
and the War Experimentation all share in the
! Fredericksburg disaster, raised a shout Of viz
| tuous Indignation against every one who sought
| to put the saddle on the right horse. II is now
admitted by one Of these journals that nothing
! Of this whi.ewsshing letter belongs to Burnside
but his signature, and that it was extorted from
| his good nature, and is ver1difereut from what
will turn out to be the truth Of history. This
view is confirmed by the letter which we pub
lish today from NJ Lincoln 70 Mcclellan last
APRIL, when lhe latter was before Yorktown.
II shows that the President was induced by the
War Department and the "On TO Richmond"
cries Of the radical press to urge Mcclellan to q
premature attack, contrary 10 his own judg-
meat--sdvice which Mcclellan, with true moral
courage, refused to take. well knowing that The
result would be similar to what afterwards
happened at Fredericksburg The despised
spade and the placing Of the siege guns in po-
stion caused the evacuation Of Yorktown with
| ont loss Of life
| The opinions Of Mr.. Lincoln about the
overland route to Richmond being equally good
as for an army as the route by water, and that
Manassas wa. as good field on which to fight
decisive battle as the suburbs Of Richmond,
and the reasons assigned for his retaining on
hand McDoweh's corps and preventing its CO.
operation with Mcclellan. contrary to the pre-,
vious plan Of the campaign, must amuse all
military men, whom il il remembered
that the President knows nothsg whatever
about war; Tho intriguers at Washington i'm
| posed upon Mr. Lincoln, aud alarmed his fears
about Washington, which was perfectly safe,
thus playing into the hands Of the generals Of
the rebel aIny. 1t is worthy Of remark that,
while tho War Department Informed Mr.. Lincoln
that Mcclellan had 100000 men on the PENN.
sula, he had only $4,000, which goes to show
what frauds the War Department have permit
ted to be practissd on the government and the
country by fictitious army rolls and men on
| paper, not ia the Geld, though the country has
to pay for them just Al much as il they were in
arms. 1t Was thus that General Banks found
himself short by three thousand men OF the
number he ought to have had by roll at Cedar
Mountain, and thus was induced, under false
estimate, to make q disastrous attack on
the strong position Of Jackson. That our
troops should win any battles under such
management is almost miraculous.
4
| THIS RADICAL PRoGRAMxE.--The radicals,
conscious that they are the cause Of the aocn-
mulsted disasters to the republic which