18. Camp slaves continued to serve in 1865
As Lee waited for the Confederate Congress to act on his suggestion to raise more troops, he requested an additional 5,000 slaves for assignment to his army around Richmond. Lee wanted the slaves to assist in building fortifications, and to aid in the supply system via wagons and the remaining railroads open to his army at Petersburg. He received about 2,000 additional slaves. By then, Confederate rations were distributed once per day for the officers and troops. Slaves received less. The other remaining major Confederate Army in the field, the Army of Tennessee facing Sherman in the Carolinas, was hampered in its movements and operations, through its dwindling number of slaves.
On March 13, with the situation in Richmond dire, the Confederate Congress finally passed legislation to raise segregated companies of troops from slaves, through impressment and voluntary enlistment. Jefferson Davis waited another ten days before issuing General Order 14, making the enlistment of black troops formal military policy. For many in the Confederate Army and Congress, the act was a humiliation, admitting the policy for which they had gone to war was wrong. The act came far too late to affect the outcome of the war. Lee was already planning his escape from beleaguered Richmond and march to the west, where he hoped to rendezvous with other troops.