Thomas S. Kenan

A lawyer in Kenansville, Duplin County, before the war, Thomas S. Kenan organized the Duplin Rifles in 1859. He served as its captain and then as colonel of the Forty-third Regiment North Carolina Troops. Kenan was wounded at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, and captured by Federal soldiers. He was interned, first at Johnson's Island and then at Point Lookout, until his release at the end of the war.

The Duplin Rifles was a Military Company organized in 1859 made up entirely of volunteers. In April 1861 as war clouds were gathering, and a month before North Carolina seceded from the Union, the company was mustered for six months and Thomas S. KENAN of Kenansville WAS ELECTED Captain. Thomas S. WATSON was made First Lieutenant; William A. ALLEN and John W. HINSON, Second Lieutenant.

The Company went to the Camp of Instruction in Raleigh and was assigned to the 1st Regiment of Volunteers under Colonel D. H. HILL (later to become a Lieutenant-General). They were soon transferred to the 2nd Volunteers and became Company C. In May 1861, they were ordered to Virginia where they served around Norfolk.

The company returned to Kenansville and on December 23, 1861, reorganized and became Company A of the 43rd North Carolina Regiment for the duration of the war. The 43rd Regiment was organized at Camp Mangum, three miles west of Raleigh, and Captain Thomas S. KENAN was chosen Lieutenant Colonel. He was promoted to Colonel in April 1862; wounded at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863; captured and was imprisoned on Johnson Island, Ohio until March 22, 1865.

Colonel KENAN was the son of the Honorable Owen Rand KENAN of Liberty Hall, a member of the Confederate Congress. His brother, James G. KENAN was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Duplin Rifles and was later promoted to Captain. Another brother, William Rand KENAN left college at Chapel Hill and joined the Duplin Rifles on December 13, 1863.

The 43rd Regiment was sent to Fort Johnston near Smithville (now Southport) for a month, and as the Union Army was approaching Richmond on the Virginia Peninsula, the Regiment was ordered to the defense of Richmond. This Regiment took part in the Battle of Drewry's Bluff. After the campaign they were stationed on the James River where they took part in building fortifications.

In December 1862, the Regiment was sent to the defense of Goldsboro and the Neuse Bridges, but they arrived the day after General FOSTER burned the railroad bridge. They set to work and rebuilt the bridge. They were transferred to Kinston where they fought several skirmishes with the enemy between Kinston and New Bern.

After a short campaign at Washington, N.C., the Regiment was transferred to Fredericksburg, Va. They marched with General LEE'S Army on through Maryland to Gettysburg, where they were in the thick of the fight at Seminary Ridge. After returning to Virginia, the 43rd was transferred to General HOKE'S division in North Carolina. They took part in the second Battle of New Bern and the Battle of Plymouth on April 18-20, 1864, the Battle of Spottsylvania Courthouse, and the second Battle of Cold Harbor. They later went on a campaign to Lynchburg, Harper's Ferry, Frederick, Maryland, and then to the outskirts of Washington, D.C.

Within thirty days the Regiment had been part of an army which had marched five hundred miles and had fought twelve battles and skirmishes. After the campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, they returned to the Petersburg area where they were placed in trenches for defense of that city. The Confederate lines broke on April 3rd and General LEE'S army retreated toward Amelia Courthouse. There were continuous skirmishes until April 9, 1865, the day of the surrender. The Duplin Rifles were paroled on April 12th.

The Duplin Rifles had 130 men during the war, 47 of whom were either killed in battle or died of disease. Ten men were disabled by wounds, and 12 were discharged for disability. There were 56 on the roll at the end of the War and 21 surrendered with the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox.

For many years after the War, the Duplin Rifles would hold their reunions at Kenansville on May 10th, Confederate Memorial Day.