Later in 1862, waiting until the North had won a significant victory in the battle at Antietam, Lincoln used his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Army to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, effective January 1, 1863. He declared the enslaved in areas in rebellion against the United States of America on that day to be "forever free". The proclamation immediately freed on paper millions of the enslaved, but it did not take effect until the Union Army was present. Week by week, as it advanced, more slaves were liberated. The last were freed in Texas on a day they called "Juneteenth" (June 19, 1865).