Well didn't he first read the proclamation to slaves in Beaufort?
I also seem to recall that an African American/Black regime was created amongst the freed men in the region as well.
Well, you are getting kind of close, so I'll just end the suspense. The EP freed all slaves in areas in the rebelling states that were not under Federal control. This was constitutional under his commander-in-chief powers during war. There was a long list of exempted areas in southern states that were exempted because they were under Union control. Also, of course, the border slave states of Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware and Missouri were exempted because they were not rebelling (western Virginia had not yet become a new state, but was in the process of agreeing to "gradual emancipation"). However, the corridor between Hilton Head and Beaufort had been in Union control since November of 1861, as a result of the largest amphibious operation until Normandy in WWII. Thus, since the area was under Union control, it should have been listed in the exemption list; however, it was not. Therefore, the slaves in that area were freed by the EP, but not of military necessity. It can be argued that this was unconstitutional, because Lincoln clearly did not exempt that area because, as you mention, the slaves in that area had been acting as freedmen since November 1861. AL was simply acknowledging what had already taken place in a de facto manner. Of course, the passage of the 13th Amendment made all of these issues moot.
As a side note, if you are ever in Beaufort, I highly recommend taking the Gullah tour. On that tour, among other things, you will see the Penn School, where slaves were taught to read, write and cipher beginning in late 1861. When the Union occupied Beaufort all of the whites (save one drunk, according to legend) fled. They call it the "great skedaddle." This left only Union troops and black folks there (not mutually exclusive categories). On Hilton Head Island you can see the remnants of four old Civil War forts. I've seen two so far: Fort Mitchel, which guards the northern end of the island (there's a nice restaurant there now, but the grounds of the fort are well preserved), and Ft. Howell that was built by a United States Colored Infantry regiment to protect Mitchelville, which was an African American community. This fort has a historical marker, but is somewhat overgrown, but you can still walk on the embankments and get a good sense of the size of the fort and its construction.