The New York herald., 1864-12-23

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Latest froa tAs Rre.t--spssaasA Prss-
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y General Thomas, continuing hh pursuit. q
still gathering up tho strsgglers and dssertefs'
and abandoned guns, wagons, camp equipage'
90, Of Hoods broken up, terribly diminished,
demoralSsd, chop-fallen, exhausted and help
less army A month ago, In his pursuit Of
Thomas, the army brought over the Tennessee
river by Hood numbered near forty-nvs thou
sand men and some ssventy-ave or eighty
pieces Of artillery. Should he recross the Ten
nessee In bis retreat without further molesta-
ton, It will be with . ragged, bleeding and
disordered mass Of twenty thousand fugiuves,
with, perhaps, dozen cannon.
But there are movements asoot by land and
wafer, which may result In the annihiiation or
capture Of his whole remaining force at the
crossings Of the flooded Tennessee. Even In
securing the passage Of the river, and II no fur
ther pursued, he will be occupied for at least .
month to como In redtting for another move
msnt; but then, In what direction can he 60 to
be Of any further service to JsR Davisi II
strikes n that bis only alternative Will be to
work along eastward ON the south side Of the
Tennessee river for . junction with Breckin-
ridge in the extreme corner OF East Tennessee,
and thence, with Breckinridge, to tho support
OF Lee, ct Richmond. But that this difficult
enterprise can be effected In season TO be
Of any use to Leo, over tho exhausted
country, the miry roads, swollen streams and
snow covered mountains that lie in the way
between Northern Alabama and Richmond,
would seem to US impossible, even were Hood
not msnaced by the victorious and vastly supe-
rior forces of Thomas, flank and rear. AS it is,
hswever, we think that, in our calculations of
the game which ID now to be played, Hoods
army, though remnant may escape, may be
safely counted out as an army substantially
destroyed.
The disastrous rebel strategy adopted by
JEFF. Davis in his last September trip to
Georgia, has thus resulted in changing the con-
ditions Of the war from two great armies against
two, to three great armies on our side against
one, ours being the army Of Grant, at Rich
mond; the army Of Thomas, In Tennessee, aud
the army OF Sherman, In Georgia. The force
of fifteen thousand strong, under Hardee ct
Savannah, made up Of scattered squads Of
veterans and of new conscripts hastily scraped
together, can hardly be classed Is an army;
and all the rebel reserves Of North Carolina,
rushing to the defence Of Wilmington, will be
more than neutrallzed, We guess, by the Butler-
Porter expedition. With tho inevitable fall Of
Savannah, Wilmington aud Charleston, the
whole army Of Sherman may be drawn to the
James river; and even to-day, II deemed me-
cessary, Sherman and Thomas, each, could, with
perfect safety, spare twenty thousand men to
reinforce General Grant, at Richmond.
II is not surprising, therefore, that the rebel
journals and leading members Of the rebel
Congress ct Richmond begin to comprehend
the handwriting on tho wall, and that nothing
short OF a miracle oan save them and their sink
ing cause from the tremendous combinations
that are closing round that Inflated city. We
are not surprised that General Lee himself has
at last been reduced to the painful extremity
Of appealing to Sambo--poor, despised and
unfortunate Ssmbo--for . rescue. But the
appeal comes too late, the danger IL too immi-
nent, the necessity Is too urgent for any help
from that quarter. No measures that Jeff. aud
his beleaguered and bswildered Congress could
adopt for arming the African element Of the
rebel States would help them now. Shsrman's
march through Georgia has shown that In the
innermost reccsses Of "the oonfedcracy" the
minds OF the blacks arc made up, and that they
are universally ready to "bress de Lord for de
coming Of de Lincum people," The slave
holders, still under the rule Of the Richmond
junta, know this, and they win not be trilsd
with by Davis upon this corner stone Of Air'-
can slavery.
The simple truth II that the grand combina-
tious of General Grant are coming to focus
that Richmond is doomed, and that with its
fall the Southern conicderacy," from its tur-
rets to its foundations, will be shaken To pieces
The MeClellan sword - the Account
Closed.
We have before stated that as the sum re-