author
David Vance
1745–1813
A Revolutionary War soldier and early North Carolina lawmaker, he helped shape life on the state’s western frontier after fighting in some of the war’s best-known campaigns. He is also remembered as the grandfather of North Carolina governor Zebulon Baird Vance.
1 Audiobook
Narrative of the Battle of Cowan's Ford, February 1st, 1781 and Narrative of the Battle of Kings Mountain
by Robert Henry, David Vance
About the author
Born near Winchester, Virginia, around 1745, David Vance served in the American Revolutionary War with the North Carolina line. Accounts connected with his life place him at major campaigns including Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and the winter at Valley Forge, and later traditions also link him to Kings Mountain.
After the war, he settled on Reems Creek in what was then Burke County and later became Buncombe County, North Carolina. There he built a life as an early frontier leader, and in the late 1780s and early 1790s he represented Burke County in the North Carolina House of Commons.
Vance died in 1813. Beyond his military service and public career, he is often remembered as part of a family that remained prominent in North Carolina history, including his grandson Zebulon Baird Vance.