 In the area it occupied, the Union Army in Louisiana had declared the Emancipation Proclamation and freed slaves came to its camps.Hanks' sympathy for blacks in the department occasionally put him at odds with department commander General Nathaniel Banks, who struggled to balance the needs of the ex-slaves with gaining support of Louisiana planters for his command.Hanks strongly advocated for opening schools for young blacks, and together with Thomas W. Conway, organized a system of freedman schools in New Orleans.