In all of Jones County in 1860 there were approx. 407 slaves, men, women and children. I have not read or heard he freed the slaves there.

What is lost in this history, is that the deserter bands of Confederates gathered in the river bottoms of Scott, Smith, Jasper and Jones Counties. They did their best to hide, and getting food was not easy in these swamps. Why decrease your food supply by keeping large numbers of slaves. Besides, slaves had a better chance in 1864 to just run for Natchez, the Baton Rouge or the Gulf than to hide out with a bunch of Confederate deserters.