Cain Duncan
Born March 31, 1840
Died March 21, 1927
Place of Birth: Fairfax County, Virginia
Buried: Cub Run Memorial Gardens, Centreville, Virginia
How Died: Unknown
Military Service: United States Union Army
Military rank held: Sergeant
Unit: Company A, 23rd United States Colored Infantry
Battles/engagements: Appomattox Campaign
Cain Duncan was drafted into the US Colored Infantry on August 4, 1863 and soon charged with desertion. Charges were later dropped when Cain was able to prove that he had not received any notice of being drafted.
Cain enlisted November 23, 1863 and reported to the 23rd Regiment US Colored Infantry at Camp Casey, Virginia. His service was to last for three years. Cain’s military records vary in the spelling of his name including: Cain, Kane, Cane and Kain Duncan.
Cain’s unit guarded wagon trains, forts, railroads and similar facilities in Virginia. The 23rd also engaged in the final pursuit of Lee’s army, April 3 to 9, 1865. After Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Cain and his regiment were transferred to Brownsville, Texas. He was mustered out on November 30, 1865.
After the war, Cain and his family settled in the Centreville area where he worked as a farmer and laborer.
Sources:
1. US census
2. fold3 (formerly footnote.com)
Larger photo of marker
Researched and written by Mary Lipsey
Gabriel Duncan is the brother of Cain Duncan. Both brothers served in the Union Army during the Civil War and rose to the rank of Sergeant. The Washington Tribune describes the life of Gabriel Duncan and the Masonic testimonial banquet in his honor.
By David Green
With Permission From Facebook Page One Tree Many Branches
“My 3rd-great uncle, Cain Duncan: He, his siblings, and his parents were enslaved by the Ashby/Green families in Delaplane and Markham in Fauquier County. His sister, Evelyn Duncan Green is my 3rd-great-grandmother. Her daughter, Lucy Green, my 2nd great-grandmother, was born enslaved. Momma Lucy pretty much raised my father. She died in 1963, shortly before my birth.
At the start of the Civil War, Cain Duncan escaped enslavement, made his way to Alexandria, VA, and joined the 23rd USCT. For a time he and his first wife stayed in the Freedmans Village at Arlington House, RE Lee’s plantation. Cain Duncan and his brother Gabriel Duncan were present at Appomattox when RE Lee surrendered and the Duncan brothers were present in Texas on Juneteenth 1865.
For most of the Civil War, their brother Charles Duncan was enslaved at Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, VA, making weapons for the Confederate States of America (CSA).”
