Perhaps the most influential figure to emerge out of the mountains of Western North Carolina was Zebulon Baird Vance. Vance would become known to history as “North Carolina’s Civil War Governor.” His life represented the challenges, struggles, and accomplishments that defined both a divided nation and a growing southern state in the nineteenth century.
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Zebulon vance essay
Essay by Timothy N. Osment, History M.A., WCU 2008
Already a skilled debater and champion of local self-government, Vance began his political career at age 24 when he was elected to the North Carolina State House of Commons.
As a state representative, he quickly gained recognition and was elected to a United States congressional seat just four years later. In 1858, at age 28, he was the youngest member of that body and looking forward to a long career of service to both his state and his country. He had little indication that the most costly war in the nation’s history would soon erupt, defining his legacy for generations to come.
As a U.S. Congressman, Vance was a staunch unionist and was quick to point out the advantages of a strong but fair federal government. However, his position changed with the beginning of hostilities at Fort Sumter in 1861. When fighting broke out between the North and South, Vance became an ardent supporter of the Confederate cause. He left Washington, D.C., for Raleigh and organized a company of men known as the “Rough and Ready Guards” who later joined the 14th Regiment. By August of 1861, Vance was elected as commander of the 26th North Carolina Regiment.
After participating in two brief but intense battles, Vance returned to politics. In 1862, the
When the war ended in 1865, Vance was arrested and held for several months in a Washington, D.C., facility until he was paroled and sent home. Pardoned in 1867, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1870. However, Radical-Republicans in charge of the federal government refused to seat him, protesting his history of owning slaves and of still being under probation. Returning to his home state, Vance was elected again as governor. He was eventually elected to another term as U.S. Senator in 1879. He was renowned as a powerful and skilled debater, and his speeches were always delivered to a packed Senate gallery. He served three terms and was just beginning his fourth when he died in April 1894.
Although the legacy of Zeb Vance belongs to the entire state, as a native son he holds special reverence to the people of Western North Carolina. He was a progressive leader who brought the mountain counties out of isolation and into prominent commercial and civic relationships with other regions. He allocated
The regional affection and appreciation bestowed on the Vance legacy
Besides the Biltmore Estate, perhaps the most recognizable landmark in Asheville is the Vance Monument – a tribute to the memory and heritage of Zeb Vance. Erected in 1896, the 50-foot granite obelisk is located in the
When Vance died in 1894 services were held in two capitals, first in Washington and then in Raleigh. From Raleigh, his coffin made a final trek to Asheville. A remarkable turnout greeted the train carrying his body when it arrived in the mountains. A huge crowd joined the funeral march from the train station to Riverside Cemetery. On that spring day in 1896, not far from where today stands the monument in his
For more information
- “Zebulon Vance” in The Encyclopedia of Appalachia, Rudy Abramson and Jean Haskell, eds., 2006.
- Zeb Vance: North Carolina’s Civil War Governor and Gilded Age Political Leader, Gordon B. McKinney, 2004.
- “War Governor of the South” – North Carolina’s Zeb Vance in the Confederacy, Joe A. Mobley, 2005.
- Zeb Vance: Champion of Personal Freedom, Glenn Tucker, 2005.
- Zeb Vance: Leader in War and Peace, Richard Cooper, 1985.
- The Confederacy and Zeb Vance, Richard Edwin Yates, 1958.