Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/779

Rh the state legislature in 1854. Four years later he was elected to the United States Congress, where he served as a representative until March, 1861. In Congress he opposed secession, but when that course became inevitable he was one of the first in the field for the military defense of the Confederate government. He entered the service as a captain, and was chosen colonel of the Twenty-sixth regiment in August, 1861. His first election as governor occurred August 2, 1862, and by special ordinance he was inaugurated in September. He was re-elected in 1864, and inaugurated January 1, 1865. His administrations entitle him to rank as one of the greatest among the war governors of the South. Governor Vance served as a soldier only about fifteen months, but during that time made a record for valor and skill which won the high esteem of officers and privates in the Confederate army. His State seceded May 2oth, and on that day his company was in camp at Raleigh, and he was its commissioned captain ready for service, as a part of the Fourteenth North Carolina regiment. After service in Virginia as captain he was promoted in August, 1861, colonel of the Twenty-sixth North Carolina regiment, with which command he participated in the New Bern engagement and the celebrated battles around Richmond. After the defeat of Lee he went from Raleigh with Johnston s army until he joined President Davis at Charlotte, to counsel with him in the disastrous posture of Confederate affairs. Parting with Mr. Davis, he remained at Statesville, Iredell county, until he was given the distinction of arrest as a political prisoner, with confinement for several months in Old Capitol prison, at Washington. Finally released on his parole, and returning to his State, he took an active part in its restoration to a constitutional standing among the other States. In 1870, his legislature sent him to the United States Senate, but Congress refused to remove his disabilities, and he consequently resigned the office. At length his citizen-