On August 30, General John Fremont declared the slaves in rebellion in Missouri were to be freed. That upset President Lincoln, not only becaue the general failed to tell him (he learnedd in from the newspaper accounts) but because the president feared the message would cause the border states to flee and join the South.
The President wrote to General Fremont asking him to change his order. He said in his letter to the general "Allow me therefore to ask that you will by your own motion, modify (it) to conform to the Confiscation Act."
The president also celebrated the first naval victory. On August 27 a small Union fleet and about 1,000 troops attacked Fort Clark at Hatteras Inlet. After three hours of fighting, 700 Confederates surrendered along with two forts, without a single Union casualty.
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