Many believe that the most remarkable Vance policy was his insistence of the rule of law in the midst of the devastation and confusion of Civil War.

Early Life

Zeb Vance was born into a family with a history of military and public service. During the American Revolution, his grandfather, Colonel David Vance, had suffered through a bitter winter with Washington's Army at Valley Forge and had fought at Germantown, Brandywine, and the Battle of Monmouth. His uncle, Dr. Robert Brank Vance, was a congressman from 1824 to 1826 and Vance's father was a captain during the War of 1812.

The family lived in the house that Colonel David Vance had built in the 1790s and while the family was 'long on tradition,' they were often short of cash. Young Zeb was sent to Washington College in East Tennessee when he was about twelve; Zeb returned home when he was just fourteen because his father had died.

Political Years

On his twenty-first birthday, he wrote to former Governor David L. Swain, who was the president of the University at Chapel Hill, and asked for a loan so he could enter Law School. Governor Swain arranged for a $300 loan from the University and after a reportedly brilliant academic year, Vance was granted his County Court license in Raleigh in late 1851. The next year he went to Asheville and began to practice law. 

The young lawyer first ventured into electoral politics when he was only twenty-four years old as the Whig candidate for a seat in the State House of Commons. He won that election against an opponent twice his age. Like many North Carolinians in public life, Vance was an outstanding public speaker. His gift of ready humor and oratorical skills on the stump resulted in a remarkable success rate in elections. During his entire career, he was only defeated once at the polls (in 1856) when David Coleman, and not Vance, became the State Senator from Buncombe.

In 1858, in a great victory, he won his first congressional seat and was re-elected in 1860. Vance arrived in Washington at the age 28 and was the youngest member of Congress and one of the strongest Southern supporters of the Union. In March of 1861, however, when indications reflected that the North Carolina legislature was going to vote for secession, Vance resigned his seat and returned home.

Vance, the Soldier

When the ordinance of secession was passed that May: Vance was already a captain in Raleigh commanding the company that he had raised (the company was known as the "Rough and Ready Guards"); Vance and his company were hastily attached to the Fourteenth North Carolina Regiment; in August, he was elected colonel of the Twenty-sixth North Carolina Infantry Regiment; Colonel Vance led his men in the field for thirteen months and the Regiment distinguished itself at New Bern in March of 1862 and at Richmond in July of that same year; later, the "fighting 26th" gained legendary fame in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg.

Governor of North Carolina

Vance was the "soldier's candidate" for North Carolina governor and easily won that office with a majority, which also included the vote of every man in his regiment. He took office in September 1862 and was re-elected in 1864. While the new governor was a Southerner, he was a North Carolinian first. During the War years, that priority put Vance in several conflicts with the confederate government in Richmond.

Governor Vance was a States' Righter and some of his independent actions, however, did not find favor in Richmond. In particular, there was disagreement over his policy of exporting North Carolina cotton abroad by way of blockade runner ships and using the material received in exchange for the benefit of North Carolinians, both civilian and military. Because of that policy, North Carolina was the only Confederate state to equip and clothe its own regiments, but much of the blockade runner supplies were shared with the rest of the Confederacy. General Longstreet's Army, for example, received 12,000 uniforms from North Carolina after the Battle of Chickamauga.

Many believe that the most remarkable Vance policy was his insistence of the rule of law in the midst of the devastation and confusion of Civil War. North Carolina courts continued to function during the war, and North Carolina stands alone as the only state which never suspended the writ of habeas corpus.

With the fall of Fort Fisher in January of 1865, the last port open to the Confederacy was closed. In May, General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered his Confederate troops to General William Tecumseh Sherman at the Bennett Place near Durham, North Carolina. Later that month, Governor Vance was arrested and taken into custody by federal troops. He spent time as a prisoner in the Old Capital Prison in the District of Columbia.

After the War

When 1865 concluded, Vance was paroled and sent home. He went to Charlotte and resumed practicing law. He also began a new career on the lecture circuit and used the monies earned to maintain his family and satisfy old debts.

In 1870, the governor won one of North Carolina's seats in the United States Senate; however, he was currently under parole and was not allowed to serve. But six years later, by a majority of 13,000 votes, he defeated Thomas Settle and was voted into his third term as North Carolina's governor. During his third term the remaining federal troops left North Carolina. Also during this term, Governor Vance proposed plans to the legislature for increased educational facilities and teacher training throughout the state.

The third term was a short one because, in 1878, Governor Vance became U.S. Senator Vance--an office he held until his death on April 14, 1894.

Zebulon Vance was married twice. He was first married in 1853 to Miss Harriet Espy. Two years after his first wife's death in 1878, the Governor was married in 1880 to Mrs. Florence Steele Martin of the State of Kentucky. Governor Vance was the father of four sons by his first marriage.

"He was the Mount Mitchell of all our great men, and in the affections and love of the people, he towered above them all. As ages to come will not be able to mar the grandeur and greatness of Mount Mitchell, so they will not be able to efface from the hearts and minds of the people the name of their beloved Vance."

-- T. J. Jarvis, Governor (1879 to 1885)