THE present volume of the ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA for the year 1865 embraces 

 the final military operations of the war in the United States, the disbandment 

 of the armies, the reduction of the fleets, and the peaceful occupation of the 

 Southern States. The change in the administration of the Federal Government 

 by the shocking death of President Lincoln, and the accession of Yice-President 

 Johnson, are described in its pages, together with the various measures to re- 

 establish the State governments and to restore the authority of the Federal Gov- 

 ernment in all parts of the Union. 



The debates in Congress during the year on the relations of the Southern 

 States to the Union, the recognition of the Louisiana government, the admission 

 of a Senator from Virginia, etc., present the. preliminary views of that body on 

 one of the most important questions of the time. The views of Presidents Lin- 

 coln and Johnson, as expressed in their public addresses, have been included, as 

 also their messages to Congress, the report of the Lieutenant-General, and the 

 public documents of the Government. 



The achievement of emancipation by the almost universal assent of the coun- 

 try ; the measures taken by the Federal Government relative to the freedmen ; 

 those adopted by the Conventions and Legislatures of the Southern States to 

 raise them to a position of civil rights ; and the successful adaptation of the 

 former master and servant to the- new mode of life forming one of the most 

 interesting chapters of human history are presented in this volume. No 

 less interesting was the sudden change in the aspect of the country on the 

 disappearance of military lines ; the unobstructed passage back and forth to the 

 North and South ; the reunion of belligerents as " one people, one country, one 

 destiny." This has not been overlooked in these pages. 



The details of the internal affairs of the country embrace the disappear- 

 ance of the armies among the citizens ; the resumption of commercial inter- 



