The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1865-01-30


eyes of the rich to the miserics Of the poor, and
effective charity.
Rebel ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Virtual Deg.
radiation Of Davis.
General Lee is finally appointed general
issimo OF all the forces of the rebel
States-supreme director Of the whole military
power by which the rebels hope to secure the
ultimate triumph of their bad cause. He re-
lnquishes the immediate command of the Army
of Northern Virginia to General Joseph E.
Johnston. This is good news to the North, in
more ways than one. It is good because, as o
very severe double disapproval of the acts of
Davis, it tends to further distraction Of the enc
my's councils; because it deprives the enemy
of tho advantages of General Lees abilities in
the only sphere in which he can be Of any use,
and because 1t very practically takes all the
fight out OF the rebel army of Northern Vir-
ginia. Here are three great benefits to our
cause, that directly flow from this change In
the enemys organization. The appointment Of
Leo Is the reputation Of Davis as q military
Director direct imputation that another man
can do better, and thence that Davis is re-
sponsible for all the disasters. The appoint
ment to the command Of the principal rebel
army Of JOS E. Johnston, whom Davis has so
persistently kept in retirement gives emphasis
to this; and the two together amount to the
entire adoption Of the policy Of that class of
rebels who declare that Davis is an imbecile.
Lee has been moderately successful in the
command of single army. Only moderately,
because, when wo consider the imbecility that
has been opposed to him on our side, ii ID evil
dent that man of great genius, in the same
position, would have conquered o peace
on the Hudson river. He is now suddenly
taken from that army and ordered to take gene
raj charge of hall dozen scattered and frag-
mentary armies, Of whose affairs he knows very
little. He will no. direct them for six months
so effectively as Davis has done, and those six
months are the vital ones. Thus this act takes
Lee from the army, where he could serve well,
to q sphere where he is useless. AS for the
main rebel army it is now commanded by
retreater. Johnston always retreats. Retreat
when he does fgN it is only in order that he
may retreat more easily. Such is his history
and his nature. His appointment will have .
bad effect on the army that has been hitherto
commanded by Lee. But he Is the ablest re-
treater in the rebel service, and his appoint
ment may therefore be an Indication Of policy.
II may possibly mean the final abandonment Of
the sacred SOIL Davis is by these changes vir-
tually deposed-not actually. He cannot touch
tho army, and tho army Is the confederacy; but
he can touch the minor points that will affect
the confederacy greatly. He can negotiate for
peace, and as the other leaders 90 on step by
step in the establishment Of the actual dictator
ship Davis will take especial care Of the in
terests of Davis. He will make peace, as the
only means Of personal escape from the diff
culties Of his position. His Northern foes are
now his friends by comparison with the vindic-
tive ferocity Of those domestic foes who hedge
him round even in his capital.
We give to-day the entire organization Of all
the rebel armies that thus pass under Lee. Prac-
tically this whole military power is In three
divisions--thc Army Of the Mississippi, the
Army Of the Tennessee, and the Army Of North
ern virginia--all other forces, oven Hardee's,
arc made up Of militia grouped round small
nucleus Of regular troops. Prices army-the
Mississippi-is Of no present account Hoods
army may number twenty thousand, but Is y
such position that il cannot influence the -
pending fate Of the rebellion. The total Of the
force distributed at oil points south Of Peters
burg and north Of the Savannah rivep Is not
over twenty thousand; nor are more than five
or eight thousand Of these soldiers. The army
lately under Lee, now under Johnston, num-
bers seventy thousand men. That army Is the
rebellion, and tho government has only to
crush those seventy thousand In order to put
the rebellion down. with the force We now
have, and the generals who direct II, this ser
vice will be conn. ,aratively easy. Let the gov
eminent put aD It's available force in the band
Of Grant to strike In his own rood tpso. AM