Book Review: Beyond Freedom's Reach - A Kidnapping in the Twilight of Slavery

Lincoln freed the slaves, right? Not exactly. The Emancipation Proclamation, effective Jan. 1, 1863, only applied to those states that took up arms against the Union. It did not apply to slaveholding states that remained loyal to the Union. And, it was an Executive Order, not an Act of Congress. Lincoln issued it while the war still raged, so he dedicated Federal troops to the enforcement of the Proclamation. The Emancipation Proclamation did apply to Louisiana. This is where the story begins.