The New York herald., 1864-10-06
60 Convention, and the Ioyslf 1 masses q s' d the


This war, In Tho aggregate, has not been
"four years OF failure y but four years Of suo-
cess looking st Its substantial results. We
have recovered from The rebellion. In military
view, over two-thirds Of the territorial area
originally beld BY Il; We have wrested from Il
twothirds Of its original population. Tho
killed, wounded ssd prisoners Of the rebel
armies and fotillas, and our captures from them
In forts, fleets, artillery. small arms aud all the
materials Of modern warfare on the line OF the
Mississippi river alone. II all could be revived
and put together, would present more pow
erful array than was shown to the world In the
allied fleets and armies Of tho Crimean war and
all the fortifcations Of Sebastopol combined.
Does not this look like success? And all this,
though the main item, Is still but an item in the
general account. Az We stand to-day, Jsh
Davis and his dismantled confederacy are de-
pendent upon the single army of General Lee;
and that that army i now fairly within the
grasp Of General Grant Il a. plain as the noon
day sun. ss4e
But when We como to the details, it must be
confessed that the war on our side has been
marked by many deplorable failures. and by
such blunderIng In Virginia that, until General
Grant was brought to Washington, We had but
sorry promise Of final success. General
Mcdowell, at the Hrst Bull run, was a failure,
as was Pope at the second; Mcclellan, in bis
Peninsular campaign, was disastrous failure,
though in Maryland he was successful; Burn
side and Hooker were failures with the Army
Of the Potomac, and even Meade lost the
burg from his failure at Williamsport Patter-
son, Banks, Miles, Tom Ford, Milroy, Sigei and
Hunter were very costly failures in the She
nandoah valley; and, though Shields and FIRE.
mont each gave dressing to Stonewall Jack
| son, it was reserved for Sheridan, under
Grants mastery combinations, to work up in
| that quarter decisive campaign.
In connection with these aforesaid failures.
the Washington Directory including, from the
| first, Cameron, Stanton, Halleck, Welles and
others--was to the last failure. But, as
the real head Of this old Directory. down to
! the advent Of General Grant at the White
House as Lieutenant General, Old Ale him.
self was q regular failure. His budget of
blunders will reveal many failures, from the
first Bull run to his last sscapade in the swamps
OF Florida, where even Billy Bowlegs was
almost q match for General Scott. But, though
| President Lincoln has signally failed in hia
efforts as q military chieftain, and in his nu-
merous emancipation and reconstruction ex-
perments, in one thing he has been sigually
successful, and that Is In supplanting all bic
rivals for the succession. In this important
matter, as a great success, be stands without a
| peer since the time Of General jackson.
The greatest and damost disgraceful of oil the
political failures resulting from this war is the
Chicago platform. Setting down, on the war
| question, President Lincoln AZ failure, We
may safely say that, II reelected, he will owe
his success in great degree to that copper
head Chicago platform outrage upon the peo-
pie Of the loyal States. Setting down Gen.
Mcclellan as military failure, II politically }
successful, he will owe his good fortune to his
good sense and patriotism in kicking over the
Chicago platform. In any event, Gen. GRAM
and his splendid strategical and fighting majol
generals In coming TO the relief Of the sd
ministration and the country, are In . fair way
to show, and that right speedily, that the wal
is not failure, but, for the Union and popular
institutions, the most complete, glorious, com
prehensive and enduring success in the history
| of mankind.
i