McClellan embarked on the Peninsular campaign, a military commander with a very different political outlook compelled Lincoln to clarify yet again his policy toward slavery. In March 1862, Major General David Hunter, a West Point graduate from Illinois and one of the few abolitionists in the officer corps, was appointed commander of the Department of the South. On paper the department encompassed all of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida; in reality, the army’s control did not extend much beyond the South Carolina Sea Islands, captured the previous November. Before departing for his new post, Hunter asked Secretary of War Stanton for permission to “have my own way on the subject of slavery,” including the authority to “arm such loyal men as I can find in the country.” Since the entire white population of the islands had fled, Hunter clearly intended to enlist black soldiers. When Stanton failed to reply, Hunter took his silence as permission to proceed. On May 9, 1862, he declared all the slaves in his department (over 900,000 men, women, and children) “forever free,” and instructed his officers to accept black volunteers.1 Hunter may have been a talented general, but when it came to politics he displayed a certain naiveté.
