The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1864-04-27

Z N 4 81 = ss-
| Oar Recent Disasssrs-Ths 0ssss utrug :
| gie 20 Coms-Ths Aaainassratssa.
In Louisiana, Florida and North Carolina We
have bad the commencement Of active opera
| lions for the season; but II is commencement
that hes not had very pleasant effect upon
the public mind. General Banks whole move
ment in Louisiana Is publicly denounced - IN
administration demonstrating expsdItion-an
| operation In which no success could have
tended to shorten the war, in which disaster
must have bad moral effect upon our cause,
and in which. whatever the result might Do,
the services and lives Of many gallant men
must be lost And the severe disaster ct
Plymouth has caused quite a disagreeable an
excitement and spread abroad quite n much
gloom a. did the earlier one In Florida. In Gil
these movements We $50 the periodical return
Of the various indications Of utter incapacity
to carry on the war that the administration has
given at the commencement Of every season. Of
active operations. In the case Of the Plymouth
disaster the instance Of incapaoity d even
worse than usual Many months ago the Navy
Department was warned - to the construction
in our defeat ct that point. But with
its usual sleepy stupidity that department
seems to have taken no notice Of The matter,
and certainly made no provision to guard
| against the advent Of such foe; for upon the
arrival Of this formidable craft near Plymouth
her only antagonist was an old Staten Island
| ferryboat.
General Grant has not como to the supreme
command Of our armies any too soon. Had he
reached his present position earlier, and been
able to take full survey Of tho field and to
regulate aud control the disposition and move
ment Of all our forces before anything had been
done this season, we would certainly have
been spared our latest misfortunes. But he
was not in his place early enough for that, and
the old arrangements and plans Of the admins,
tration had to have their legitimate results.
We may now, however, well hope that this
latest series Of disasters, due to the old leaven,
shall be the last, and that our future opera
tions-not Influenced by the ignorant incapa-
city Of the administration-wil be Of Z differ
ent nature. And those future operations are to
be-, by all odds, the immensely important
ones Of the war. Over the whole theatre
Of war the struggle is ready to burst
forth with the most intense fury. On our
own side, as well as on the side OF the
rebels, the most gigantic preparations have
been made. Those new elements In mod
ern warfare, negro troops and iron-clad YES
sells, are to be perhaps more iercely tried than
ever; for, rs will be seen by an article in an
other column from the Richmond Eraminer,
the rebels promise to meet us "aHoat or
ashore" and ION our own terms" and darkly
hint at the repetition Of "the deeds of the Mer-
rimac." In the same article, also, 1t is clearly
acknowledged that this struggle is to be the
last, and is ssfor life or death" Enough has
been seen Of General Grants style OF opera
tions in former campaigns, as well as OF what
he proposes to do in his next one, to give the
country the highest hopes for success under his
the virtue to let him alone-if his plans do
not have to be qualified or changed to suit the
small ideas, the mere notions, the whims or the
wishes Of this or that member Of the admins
tration-we shall see before the summer is over
far different results from those that we have so
constantly had through all the time during
which the administration has conducted the
war.
But the history Of these latest disasters as well
as Of the many that have preceded them in other
campaigns, ought not to be lost upon the pub
lie. They may have one good effect: they are
the characteristic contribution that the present
administration has made to our history. Mr..
Lincoln and his advisers, in their attempts to
carry on their,war, by their interference.with
the plans Of generals, by their appointment OF
incompetent men to places Of great importance,
by their dwelling weakness, manifested in all
ways, have directly brought upon the country
the whole series of disasters that begins with the
battle Of Bull run and ends with the transac-
tion at Plymouth. Let the people ponder this
well; and II the consideration Of this fact shall
prevent the reelection Of the present President
the country will at least have some small.
reason to be thankful for so many defeats.
Messrs. Bates and Usher seem to be the only
men in the present Cabinet who are competent
to fulfil the duties of their positions but against
every other member, and above oil against the
President, the country should wage war Of
prescription. Lincoln, Stanton and Welles are
alike incompetent drivellers, and Chase, &C.
cordng to the best authority, is secessionist.
Such men must never again be permitted to
govern this great country.
FREAKS OF Lrcls!AyoS.s-bne Of the sIlliest
measures thu. nave been introduced in Con.
sress during the present session is the Stevens