Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/904

844 navy yard at Pee Dee bridge, where he was serving when Sherman's army reached that post. He took part in the destruction of the yard, and escaping capture, made his way to a point near Georgetown, S. C., where he and his companions, Cephas Gilbert and Junius Hanks, put themselves under the protection of Major Buck, who advised them to surrender to the Federal navy on the Blackwater, the army of Northern Virginia having already been surrendered. They accordingly gave themselves up to a Federal gunboat, and, being soon paroled, Drury and Hanks made their way to Charleston and Hilton Head, where they were given transportation to New York. Returning to Norfolk, Mr. Drury has since then given his attention to the civil occupations of merchandising, marine engineering, and the practice of law, winning an influential place in the community. He was married July 27, 1860, to Catherine Ruth Braithwaite, and they have seven children living: William T., Talbot L., Elizabeth R., Anna R., Roberta, Azula V. and Ruth.

Captain Robert R. Duncan, of Culpeper, a gallant officer of the Sixth Virginia cavalry regiment, is a native of Rappahannock county, born April 23, 1833. He is one of three brothers who served in the Confederate cause. One, James H. Duncan, of the Sixteenth Mississippi regiment, held the rank of lieutenant-colonel at the close of the war, and the other, B. F. Duncan, served in the same company with his brother Robert, until he fell in battle at Cedarville, near Front Royal, in May, 1862. Captain Duncan was mainly reared and educated in Culpeper county. He began his active career by making the journey to California during the excitement following the discovery of gold, whence, two years later, he returned to Mississippi and thence to Virginia. Soon afterward he went to Kansas and was there during the border warfare in which John Brown was distinguished; and at the outbreak of the war in 1861 he joined the Confederate forces and participated in the battle of Carthage, Mo. Then returning to his native State, he enlisted as a private in Company B of the Sixth Virginia cavalry. At the reorganization of the army he was elected second lieutenant, was soon promoted first lieutenant, and in the last year of the war was made captain of his company. He participated in nearly all the important engagements of his regiment, and was frequently entrusted with separate command of scouting expeditions, in which he discharged important duties with a skill and daring that elicited the warm commendation of his superior officers. During the Pennsylvania campaign his regiment had a spirited and successful fight with the Sixth United States regular cavalry at Fairfield. In his report Major Flournoy, commanding, wrote: "Lieutenant Duncan, Company B, was conspicuous for his daring, having sabered five Yankees, running his saber entirely through one and twisting him from his horse." He did not himself escape injury, being wounded in the hand at Second Manassas, in the breast at Trevilian's, and at Tom's Brook receiving a bullet wound in the left arm which necessitated its amputation. He was also captured at the latter fight and was subsequently held at Fort Delaware until a short time before the surrender at Appomattox. At the return of peace he disposed of his property in Kansas and made his permanent home at Culpeper, where he has ever since been engaged in farming. He maintains a membership in A. P. Hill camp at Culpeper. In 1868 he was