Robert Brank Vance (1828–1899), elder brother of North Carolina Governor Zebulon B. Vance, began his Confederate military service in 1861 by raising a company known as the Buncombe Life Guards and becoming colonel of the 29th North Carolina Infantry. His regiment served in East Tennessee, participated in the defense of Cumberland Gap, and accompanied General Edmund Kirby Smith during the Kentucky Campaign of 1862. At the Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro) in December 1862, Vance distinguished himself in combat, losing his horse to an artillery shell. His service earned him promotion to brigadier general on March 4, 1863. Following a prolonged illness, he was assigned command of Confederate forces in the mountainous region along the North Carolina–Tennessee border, where he conducted raids against Union supply lines. On January 14, 1864, after capturing a Union wagon train near Knoxville, Vance and most of his command were themselves captured by Federal cavalry.
Following his capture, Vance was held in several Northern prisons, including facilities in Nashville, Louisville, Camp Chase in Ohio, and finally Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island. During his confinement at Fort Delaware, he was photographed in May 1864 alongside several prominent Confederate prisoners, including Brigadier General Meriwether Jeff Thompson. His eventual release was aided by the Reverend Nathaniel G. Taylor, a Union sympathizer whom Vance had previously held prisoner in Tennessee but had treated kindly and released. Through Taylor’s intervention, President Abraham Lincoln granted Vance a special parole permitting him to purchase clothing and other necessities for fellow Confederate prisoners. In March 1865, Lincoln granted Vance a conditional pardon, allowing him to return home to North Carolina on the condition that he take no further part in the war.
Vance wrote the letter to Jane Eliza (Brown) Bestor (1820-1885), the wife of John Rollin Bestor, Sr. (1813-1867). This Baltimore couple had twin sons who served in the Maryland Guard that became Co. B, 21st Virginia Infantry. Eliza seems to have corresponded with numerous Confederate officers seeking information about her sons. The Bestor brothers’ letters have been transcribed and may be found at 1861-65: The Bestor Brothers of Baltimore.
T R A N S C R I P T I O N
Fort Delaware, Delaware
July 22nd 1864
My Dear Madam:
I was surprised and grieved yesterday to learn that my letter of thanks for your beautiful presents had never reached you. Such things are mortifying but, in a case like mine, cannot be helped.
The package came some days after the departure of our friends –Generals J. & T.—and I wrote you promptly. I ask the privilege of again returning my grateful thanks and to assure you how highly I appreciate such acts of kindness. The handkerchiefs, knives & forks are really very tasty. What must I do with the articles for Gen’s J. & T.? If you have a surer opportunity of sending the articles to them, I can return them to Baltimore. Please advise me on that point.
I hope your sons John Rollin & Rollin John are safe and well. I would express my feelings more fully in regard to those patriotic boys, but I find that notes thus embellished are apt to go by the board. God bless you, madam, for your thoughtful kindness in providing for me in prison. I trust that you may be rewarded by the silent plaudits of the heart.
Your obliged and obedient servant, — Robert B. Vance
To Mrs. J. Eliza Bestor, Baltimore, Maryland
