surrender on the terms accorded to LEE. On the 25th, JOHNSTON replied, and, on the 26th, the surrender was made in an interview between SHERMAN and JOHNSTON at Durham Station.

General GRANT telegraphed the news to the War Department from Raleigh, on April 26th, as follows: "JOHNSTON surrendered the forces in his command, embracing all from here to Chattahoochee, to General SHERMAN, on the basis agreed upon between LEE and myself for the Army of Northern Virginia."

Next to LEE's army, JOHNSTON's was the most powerful force the Rebellion had in the field, and with its fall, fell the last slender hope which DAVIS yet entertained of making headway against the Armies of the Union.

GENERAL GRANT RETURNS TO WASHINGTON, FROM RALEIGH.

In a few days afterward, General GRANT was again at his headquarters in Washington, and, on the 28th of April, the following order was issued by the War Department, and at the same time the several corps, composing the Army of the Potomac, were ordered to march via Richmond to Washington, where they were to be reviewed, before their final disbandment:

IMPORTANT ORDER OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT, REDUCING THE EXPENSES OF THE MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT.

"WAR DEPARTMENT, ADNUTAN, April 28th, 18650", }

"GENERAL ORDER No. 77,

"For reducing the expenses of the Military Department. "Ordered, First—That the chiefs of the respective bureaus of this department proceed immediately to reduce the expenses of their respective departments to what is absolutely necessary, in view of an immediate reduction of the forces in the field and garrisons, and the speedy termination of hostilities, and that

they severally make out statements of the reductions they deem practicable.

"Second-That the Quartermaster-General discharge all ocean transports not required to bring home troops in remote departments. All river and inland transportation will be discharged except that required for the necessary supplies of troops in the field. Purchases of horses, mules, wagons, and other land transportation will be stopped; also purchases of forage, except what is required for immediate consumption. All purchases for railroad construction and transportation will also be stopped. "Third-That the Commissary General of Subsistence stop the purchase of supplies in his department for such as may, with what is on hand, be required for the forces in the field to the 1st of June next.

"Fourth-That the Chief of Ordnance stop all purchase of arms, ammunition and material therefor, and reduce the manufacturing of arms and ordnance stores in government arsenals as rapidly as can be done without injury to the service.

"Fifth-That the Chief of Engineers stop work on all field fortifications and other works, except those for which specific appropriations have been made by Congress for completion, or that may be required for the proper protection of works in progress.

"Sixth-That all soldiers in hospitals who require no further medical treatment, be honorably discharged from service, with immediate payment. All officers and enlisted men who have been prisoners of war and are now on furlough or at parole camps, and all recruits in rendezvous, except those for the regular army, will be likewise honorably discharged. Officers whose duty it is under the regulations of the service to make out rolls and other final papers connected with the final discharge and payment of soldiers, are directed to make payment without delay, so that the order may be carried into effect immediately. "Seventh-The Adjutant-General of the army will cause immediate returns to be made by all commanders in the field, garrisons, detachments and forts, of their respective forces, with a view to their immediate reduction.

"Eighth-The Quartermasters of Subsistence, Ordnance, Engineers, and Provost Marshal General's Departments, will reduce the number of clerks and employees to that absolutely required for closing the business of their respective Departments, and will, without delay, report to the Secretary of War the number required of each class or grade. The SurgeonGeneral will make a similar reduction of surgeons, nurses, and attendants in his bureau.

“Ninth―The chiefs of the respective bureaus will immediately cause proper returns to be made out of public property in their charge, and a statement of property in each that may be sold upon advertisement and public sale, without prejudice to the

service.

'Tenth--That the Commissary of prisoners will have rolls made out, of the name, residence, time and place of capture, and occupation of all prisoners of war who will take the oath of allegiance to the United States, to the end that such as are disposed to become good and loyal citizens of the United States, and who are proper objects of Executive clemency, may be relieved upon terms that the President shall deem fit and consistent with the public safety.

"By order of the Secretary of War.

"W. A. NICHOLS, A. A. G. "Official.-THOS. M. VINCENT, A. A. G."

THE REBEL FORCES IN ALABAMA, MISSISSIPPI, AND EAST LOUISIANA, SURRENDER TO GENERAL CANBY.

On the 4th of May, 1865, General RICHARD TAYLOR, commanding the rebel forces in Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, surrendered to Major-General CANBY, and this closed up our account with the rebels east of the Mississippi river.

GENERAL SHERIDAN GOES TO NEW ORLEANS.-SURRENDER OF KIRBY SMITH.

Beyond the Mississippi, KIRBY SMITH exhibited a determination to hold out and prolong the war. General GRANT resolved to use efficient measures to bring him also to terms, and a powerful expedition was fitted out at Fortress Monroe, and Major-General PHILIP SHERIDAN was assigned to its command. The General proceeded forthwith by way of the Mississippi river to New Orleans, but before reaching that point, SMITH had heard of the surrender of LEE, JOHNSTON, and TAYLOR, and he too accepted the terms granted to LEE, and surrendered the forces under his command.

CLOSE OF THE WAR.

There was no longer a doubt but that the fierce and bloody war which for four years had desolated the southern land, and filled almost every household throughout the entire country with mourning, had terminated. It

Our free institutions Slavery, the curse, had

terminated with honor to the Union. were permanently established. gone down, crushed forever, by the madness of the very men who were its supporters and who commenced the war for the avowed purpose of perpetuating human bondage on the American continent. A thousand sanguinary battles attested the valor and patriotism of the Northern and Western States, and though defeats were frequently experienced, they served only to make stronger the brave arms which were ultimately to win enduring renown and restore peace and harmony to the nation. PRESENTATION TO GENERAL GRANT OF A MANSION IN PHILADELPHIA.

General GRANT's modesty is proverbial, and since the conclusion of the war he has declined all invitations to speak at receptions, reviews, or serenades.

A number of public spirited gentlemen of Philadelphia purchased a magnificent mansion on West Chestnut street, in that city, and presented it to the General on May 3d, 1865. The house was elegantly furnished from cellar to attic, and the larders were amply stocked with the best of everything, the whole costing over fifty thousand dollars. The presentation was made quietly and without ostentation, the General and lady and family being present. In a few words he expressed to the Committee his gratitude for their princely gift, his manner proving more conclusively than his utterance, that his heart fully appreciated the handsome and substantial compliment which his friends and admirers conferred upon him.

CHARACTER AND ABILITIES OF LIEUTENANT GENERAL GRANT.

No one labored more assiduously to break the power of the Rebellion than General GRANT. He entered the service to lend his abilities and his personal efforts to this

one great end. How well he performed his duty the Republic and the world knows. With a pure heart, a steady nerve, an abiding faith in the justness of the cause and a resolution which nothing could shake, he moved forward in the discharge of his duties. Step by step, he rose to the exalted and responsible position of Lieutenant-General. To him were confided the destinies of our armies and the welfare of the country. He was equal to the task, and to-day he occupies a prominence in history, second to no military chieftain who ever lived. His public and private character is spotless, and his sole ambition is to serve his country, and further the holy cause of American liberty.

Envy, which often assails the best, leaves him alone, and no one dares question his patriotism or bravery, his skill, his modesty, his disinterestedness, his firmness or his success. To him is universally attributed the final triumph of our arms, the result of strategy the most skilful, combinations the largest and most overwhelming, and courage, persistent, self-reliant and dauntless. He has never been obliged to explain away any mistakes, or to remove any misapprehensions; to account for any disasters, to make any apologies, or appeal to his countrymen for a reversal of their opinions. His profound, his almost infallible judgment, has lifted him above the errors of popular generals, who are too apt to be thinking of the public when their business is only with the enemy. Thus we find him on his own pedestal, in the full proportions of a wise, great and successful man. Not the least of his

merits is his unpretending demeanor.

At no moment, on

no occasion, has he ever betrayed any personal vanity, or any exhilaration in successes which would have turned the heads of most commanders. Not a word from his lips, not a line from his pen, has out of place, or out of character. have erred in this way, he never has.

ever been out of time, However others may

Whether as a sub