The New York herald., 1864-10-24

recover.
The Eighty fourth regiment OF the New York state
| toral Guard, commanded by Colonel +. A. Conkiing
which has served out three mouths term Of service,
arrived this city at late hour Saturday evening
The Eighty has been doing guard duty in the She
| nandoah valley and at other points
dre at Eastport, Maine yesterday. destroyed nearly
the whole business portion of the town. comprising about
fifty commercial o!her business houses Including tho
Frontier Bank and the telegraph oice The loss 10 esti
| mated al half q million dollars.
| The Political and Military Situation OF
| tho Country.
What is the political and military situation
of the republic: What is the present position
| OF the Presidential candidates before the peo-
pie? What are the military prospectss
After weeks and months of political recon-
noissances aud skirmishes; after feint advances,
and demonstrations and manGuvres Of all sorts
and sizes, the great contest for the Presidency
has taken definite shape. Reconnaissance
have told all that it was necessary to know;
| feints and demonstrations have diverted atten-
ton from important points and been seasonably
seen through on either side the skirmishers
have been called in and the cavalry have been
put in their appropriate place, and all is ready
| for the final grand settlement The issue is to
be determined BY the masses Of the people who
stand opposed on the great questions OF ma
tional policy and progress On the one hand
stand Lincoln and Johnson-the Baltimore
platform and the republican party. All these
have the sympathies Of the people, In so far as
they are committed to the positive prosecution
Of the war for the national honor and for the
territory and political unity of this nation;
but all these are also feared by many honest
men in the country, who see in the republican
| party an ambitious clique disposed to divert
| the war from these great purposes, and to use
it and the blood Of the people In carrying out
the views Of faction. On the other hand
we have Mcclellan and Pendleton, and both
Of these are now squarely placed on positive
Union platform. McCleilan has in his favor
his great personal popularity and the re6ec-
ton that, though untried, he cannot blunder
more greatly than Lincoln has DONE His
danger with the people is still and will be,
that though he has repudiated the peace policy,
he is inevitably affiliated with the peace party.
His platform Is clear-Pendleton's platform,
according to his letter published yesterday.
is clear; but the fact that these had to be
written to cover up platform that may still
express the views Of some Of McClellan's sup
porters is the great danger in his case.
Nearly four years Of war have finally brought
the military situation to distinct and definite
issue-an issue that every intellect can easily
grasp. Four years ago We began war on the
outer limit OF an immense circle, and that
circle enclosed territory equal in intrinsic
richness to any that men ever fought for. We
proposed to prosecute the war on what was
vaguely denominsted an anaconda system;
and in fact we indented the circle here and
there in very ineffective way. 1t was hard
for any one to see when we were
to reach the end by that means. But our skr-
mishes and useless battles are done with now.
We have gone into the heart Of the country
We have reclaimed the immense tracts that
were seized by insurrection, and now ell that
is left Of the rebellion-all that we have to
overthrow In order to establish the supremacy
of the United States governmsnt-are the
armies Of Hood and Lee. Indeed, we tave to
destroy actually but one Of thsse-for they
are Samese twins in this respect-that fatal
blow given to one will kill the other. Early
and Longstreet may now be counted out Of the
fight Lee, with eighty thousand men Of all
kinds, soldiers and militia, and Hood with not
more than thirty thousand soldiers are the re-
bellion. And to finally annihilate this rebel
| lion-to wipe of from the face Of the earth
the last remnant Of the power that once threat
ened our existence as nstion-we have
Sherman, with his army, in hot pursuit
Of Hoods fugitive force; and We have Grant
quietly and patiently laboring to nullify Lees
Notifications, that he may hurl his immense
army at that of Lee In the full consciousness
that be can destroy it on the very day when
be can get at it.
Such, then, is the present situation Of the
country in a political and military point of
view. II is cminently o situation that the
people may feel comfortable over. Our mill
| tary prospect is reduced as near to certainty
as any prospect can be, and II must all 60 our
own way, and the political prospect is good
one whatever.may be the result Of the election.
No party can revive the confederacy nor is IL
to be soberly supposed that any party ever
meant to- despite the clamor Of the extremists
on either side. In two weeks from tomorrow
the question Of the Chief Magistracy for the
next four years will be settled by the people ;
and those great representative. OF the people,
Grant and Sherman, bid fair ID settls speedily
and definitely the great question Of mill
tary supremacy between the North and South.
The country may await bstA decisions with
calm oon0dAncA