"On many plantations, as on Lousiana Governor Moore's by the summer of 1863, slaves simply came and went at pleasure, using the master's place as a convenient domicile, while spending their days wandering the countryside and scavenging."
"On October 17, 1864, the governors of N.C., S.C., VA, GA, AL, and MS met in Augusta, GA, to discuss the crisis in Confederate affiars and compose recommendations to their states and the national government.
"One of the several resolutions they adopted was a call for the use of slaves in the military, with the government compensating their masters for them somehow, actually arming them as soldiers, and promising them freedom after the war if they served well."
-William C. Davis, Look Away! pp 157
Talk is cheap, Stainless. When it came to crunch time and the confederate congress actually permitted black combat troops the congress choked and couldn't bring itself to promise freedom in return for service. Their true colors and real concerns came shining through, independence was not worth emancipation.