Please understand what I am trying to show you here, George, and please do not get offended.
This is the post, four paragraphs about the legislation that you have put up now several times, you have specifically invited me to read paragraph 4:
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“The measure that ultimately was enacted, introduced by Representative Barksdale of Mississippi on February 10, 1865, the day after Benjamin’s speech, made no provision for emancipating slaves. It merely authorized the President to accept from the owners of slaves the services of such a number of able-bodied Negro men as he may deem expedient to perform military service in whatever capacity he may direct....[N]ot more than twenty percent of the male slaves
between the ages of eighteen and forty-five should be called from...any one state. This crucial last section of the law stated that nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize a change in the relation which the said slave shall bear toward their owners, except by consent of the owners and of the states in which they may reside and in pursuance of the laws thereof.”
“[E]xtraordinary efforts” were required to pass this proposal. Benjamin received approval from Lee’s army on February 11. A highly-publicized letter from General Lee to Congressman Barksdale dated February 18, 1865, that supported the drafting and then emancipating of slaves “turned the tide” on this issue.
But not everyone could be made to accept the proposal. On March 4 and 6, the Virginia legislature agreed that slaves and free blacks could fight in the Confederate army, but their military service would not result in emancipation.
The Confederate Army and Davis managed to overcome the opposition by the Virginia legislature and the Confederate Congress to emancipation by adding to army regulations that slaves could fight if they so desired and if their masters submitted a written approbation that the slave could be freed after the war.
Read the last paragraph again please.
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Ok. paragraph 1 clearly says .. no provision for emancipating slaves (and they do not mean a general emancipation nor do I). They mean the bill will not free any slaves been accepted into the military.... but the bill will compromise and allow donations of slaves into the military, with no prior guarantee of emancipation for those slaves
paragraph 2 says that the bill passed only because of Lee's letter of support for "drafting and emancipation" of slaves was so firm to go all the way and draft slaves into armed service and emancipate those who serve... paragraph 2 refers to Lee's letter, not the bill itself.. Lee's letter recommended drafting and emancipation, which was extreme to the congress, the bill itself, the one that finally passed, took a less extreme approach, and allowed only for the donations of slaves, but even that weaker compromise passed only because Lee had been so firm in his support for the more extreme measure of draft and emancipate.. Lee's letter turned the tide. Even the compromise bill would have failed had not Lee's demands been so firm, but they did not give Lee what he had asked.
paragraph 3 says the Virginia legislature, which previously had forbid any free blacks and slaves from serving, would now permit them to serve openly, but it remained firm in refusing emancipation for any slaves accepted into the army..
Lee was operating in Virginia.
paragraph 4 (which you have stressed that I need read closely) says that Lee got around (overcome) the laws of both Virginia and the CSA congress that blocked emancipation for slaves serving in the army, by ADDING to his general order, that he directed to his officers, that they weren'tr to acept any donated slaves that were no accompanied with awritten paper of emancipation. Lee's MILITARY order went above and beyond what the CIVILIAN politicians had allowed in the bill.
Lee's miltary order did not obey the bill that the CSA congress passed, it simply ignored parts of it. The bill allowed only for the donation of slaves, no draft, and said the donated slaves had no guarantee of emancipation. Lee simply said well, ok, the military officers will take the free-wiil donations of slaves, but the officers are to refuse any freely donated slaves who do not come with emancipation papers from their owners.
To say the CSA congress arranged for the use of armed slaves in exchange for their emancipation is not correct. The bill did no such thing, despite what Lee had wanted. Any slaveholder could emancipate his slaves if he chose to before this bill was drafted. Al this bill did was permit donated slaves to be accepted into the CSA armed forces. But this bill itself made no provision that those slaves who were used as soldiers had to be emancipated, or even that they would be promised emancipation.
Lee however went ahead and wrote that requirement into his military order.