Zeb Vance: from Unionist to Secessionist

Zebulon Baird Vance is one of the most beloved figures in North Carolina history. Before the war, he was a strong Unionist who worked hard to keep his state in the Union. Then, in a single moment in April 1861, everything changed.

A Mountain Man in Congress

Vance was born in 1830 in Buncombe County, in the mountains of western North Carolina. He became a lawyer and was known for his quick wit and his storytelling. In 1858, he was elected to Congress, where he argued against secession and hoped the Union could be preserved.

The Moment He Changed

In April 1861, Vance was speaking to a large crowd, urging them to stand by the Union. As he later described it, his arm was raised in an appeal for peace when news arrived of the firing on Fort Sumter and President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 volunteers to put down the seceded states. North Carolina would be asked to send troops to fight her Southern neighbors.

Vance said that when his hand came down, it fell “by the side of a Secessionist.” Like thousands of other Southern Unionists, he could not take up arms against his own people.

Colonel and Governor

Vance became colonel of the 26th North Carolina Infantry, which he led at New Bern and in the Seven Days battles around Richmond. In 1862, North Carolina elected him governor, and he was reelected in 1864.

As governor, Vance worked tirelessly to care for North Carolina’s soldiers and their families. His state ran its own blockade runners, including the famous Advance, to bring in uniforms, shoes and supplies from Europe. He also stood up for the rights of his citizens, defending civil liberties even when it put him at odds with the Confederate government in Richmond.

After the War

After the war, Vance was arrested and held for a time in Washington. He returned to public life and was elected governor again in 1876, then served in the U.S. Senate from 1879 until his death in 1894. North Carolina chose him as one of the two people to represent the state in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.

Read more about the common soldiers Vance led in our post on the Civil War private, and honor North Carolina’s history with a flag from our Confederate flag collection.

Source: Michael C. Hardy: Zeb Vance, from Unionist to Secessionist

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