The first draft of the Proclamation was submitted to the Cabinet in the
preceding July, with the remark that he had fully determined to issue
it immediately. Secretary Seward suggested that its issue be postponed
until it could be given to the country supported by some military
success. The President saw the force of the suggestion and waited
until after the battle of Antietam. The Preliminary Proclamation was
dated September 22, 1862. In a reply to a serenade two days later the
President said: "I can only trust in God I have made no mistake."
_Upon military necessity_. This phrase was inserted in the concluding
sentence, which had been suggested by Secretary Chase, as furnishing
the only authority by which the President felt that he could free the
slaves of the enemy. The Proclamation did not refer to those slaves
held by persons who were not in rebellion.