Maryland, Missouri and West Virginia all freed their slaves before the war's end.
In Delaware there were very few slaves to begin with and in Kentucky very few left by the time the 13th Amendment's ratification freed them in December 1865.
Of the nation's four million slaves in 1860, only a few thousand remained as slaves to be freed by ratification of the 13th Amendment in December 1865.
And your problem with this is what, exactly?
Words have meaning. I said the US never freed slaves in the US until well after the war ended, December 1865. I am correct. You are the one that has a problem with it.