Zebulon Baird Vance


Zebulon Baird Vance was a Confederate military officer in the American Civil War, the 37th and 43rd Governor of North Carolina, and U.S. Senator. A prolific writer, Vance became one of the most influential Southern leaders of the Civil War and postbellum periods. As a leader of the "New South", Vance favored the rapid modernization of the Southern economy, railroad expansion, school construction, and reconciliation with the North.

Childhood

Zebulon Vance was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina, near present-day Weaverville, the third of eight children. His wealthy family owned 18 slaves. His uncle was Congressman Robert Brank Vance, for whom his elder brother, Robert B. Vance, was named. At age twelve he was sent to study at Washington College in Tennessee, now known as Washington College Academy. The death of his father forced Vance to withdraw and return home at the age of fourteen. It was during this time that he began to court Harriette Espy by letter.
To improve his standing, Vance determined to go to law school. At the age of twenty-one, he wrote to the President of the University of North Carolina, where he was a member of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies and Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, former Governor David L. Swain, and asked for a loan so that he could attend law school. Governor Swain arranged for a $300 loan from the university, and Vance performed admirably. By 1852 Vance began practicing law in Asheville, and was soon elected county solicitor. By 1853, he married Harriette Espy at Quaker Meadows. They had five sons, four of whom survived to adulthood.

Civil War

By the time the ordinance of secession had passed in May 1861, Vance was a captain stationed in Raleigh, commanding a company known as the "Rough and Ready Guards", part of the Fourteenth North Carolina Regiment. That August, Vance was elected Colonel of the Twenty-sixth North Carolina. The Twenty-sixth engaged in the Battle of New Bern in March 1862, where Vance conducted an orderly retreat. Vance also led the Twenty-sixth at Richmond. The Twenty-sixth was ultimately destroyed at the Battle of Gettysburg, losing more than 700 of its original 800 members, though Vance at that time was no longer in military service.
In September 1862, Vance won the gubernatorial election. In the Confederacy Vance was a major proponent of individual rights and local self-government, often putting him at odds with the Confederate government of Jefferson Davis. For example, North Carolina was the only state to observe the right of habeas corpus and keep its courts fully functional during the war. Vance opposed Confederate conscription practices; postwar, he would even testify in the hearing investigating George Pickett's execution of 22 alleged Confederate deserters in the aftermath of the Battle of New Bern. Vance testified that the North Carolinians were "troops raised for local defense" and that "the Confederate government did not keep faith with these local troops," who were "transfer to the regular service" in "violation of their enlistment agreement." This testimony questioned the legality of Pickett's decision to hang as deserters the North Carolinians found fighting for the Union troops, and put Pickett at risk of prosecution for war crimes. Vance also refused to allow supplies smuggled into North Carolina by blockade runners to be given to other states until North Carolinians had their share. Vance's work for the aid and morale of the people inspired the nickname "War Governor of the South". Vance was re-elected in 1864. On May 29, 1865, William Woods Holden was appointed governor by President Andrew Johnson. Some have said that when Vance left Raleigh when it was captured by Sherman at the end of the Civil War, that the house where he temporarily lived in Statesville was a "temporary state capitol," but it is more accurately argued that there is no evidence that he conducted official business in Statesville, and that Gov. Holden believed that once Vance left Raleigh, he relinquished the office of governor.

Post-war career

Governor Vance was arrested by Federal forces on his birthday in May 1865 and spent time in prison in Washington, D.C. Per US President Andrew Johnson's amnesty program, he filed an application for pardon on June 3, and was paroled on July 6. After his parole, he began practicing law in Charlotte, North Carolina. Among his clients was accused murderer Tom Dula, the subject of the folk song "Tom Dooley." Governor Vance was formally pardoned on March 11, 1867, though no formal charges had ever been filed against him before his arrest, during his imprisonment, nor during the period of his parole.
In 1870, the state legislature elected him to the United States Senate, but due to the restrictions placed on ex-Confederates by the 14th Amendment, he was not allowed to serve. In 1876, Vance was elected Governor once again, and in 1879 the legislature again elected him to the United States Senate. This time he was seated, and he served in the Senate until his death in 1894. In the Senate, he opposed McKinley tariff, civil service programs, and repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. He generally supported conservative President Grover Cleveland, and back in North Carolina fought the populists and Farmers Alliance.
Starting in about 1870, Vance gave a speech hundreds of times he called "The Scattered Nation", praising Jews and calling for religious tolerance and freedom amongst all Americans.

Personal life

In 1880, Vance married Florence Steele Martin of Kentucky.
After a funeral in the U.S. Capitol, Vance was buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Asheville. In his eulogy former Governor T. J. Jarvis said:
His biographer, historian Selig Adler wrote:

Legacy

There are several monuments dedicated to Vance:
, with the Biltmore Building in the rear
Several locations and schools in North Carolina bear Vance's name: