On May 9, 1862, Union General David Hunter issued General Order No. 11, declaring the emancipation of all enslaved people in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina—states under Union occupation during the Civil War. The bold move was unprecedented and ignited national debate. However, President Abraham Lincoln swiftly annulled the proclamation, concerned that such an act should come from the executive branch and not military command.
Lincoln remarked, “General Hunter is an honest man… He proclaimed all men free within certain states. I repudiated the proclamation.” Though Hunter’s order was rescinded, it foreshadowed the Emancipation Proclamation issued just months later, and spotlighted the moral urgency felt by abolitionist generals in the field.
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