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During the first eighteen months of the Civil War President Lincoln listened unmoved to the clamorings of abolitionists for an emancipation proclamation. He declared he would preserve the Union without freeing the slaves, if such a thing were possible. September 22, 1862, he issued a preliminary proclamation that, unless the inhabitants of the revolted States returned to their allegiance by January 1, the slaves should be declared free. This had no effect. January 1, 1863, the proclamation was issued declaring the freedom of slaves in all the States which had seceded except forty-eight counties of West Virginia, seven counties in Virginia, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and thirteen parishes of Louisiana, including New Orleans. These districts were practically under the control of the Union army. Lincoln expected the proclamation to take effect gradually. Its legal effect has been disputed; its practical effect was enormous.