Military governor Johnson frees his own slaves in Greeneville

In January 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation had exempted Tennessee. Slavery remained legally intact there under Union occupation. Andrew Johnson, the state's military governor and a man who had long opposed general emancipation, reversed himself. On August 8, 1863, in his hometown of Greeneville, Johnson freed Dolly, Sam, Henry, and the other people he held in bondage, telling them simply, "I freed my slaves today." The date later grew into Tennessee's Emancipation Day…