J.J. Covington, a grand old man who lives with his son in Vinton. He will celebrate his 94th birthday Thursday ( 22 Feb 1938). Tears come in the old man's eyes and they sparkle when he reminisces over those years of the Civil War. A sixteen year old kid just off a Charlotte county farm, Mr. Covington joined the Confederate army when the war broke out. For two years he was kept in a training camp and then, like thousands of other southern boys, he was put in the regular army at 18. He was in the Battle of Chancellorsville:
'My captain was wounded that day. I had my horse shot out from under me and seven bullets went through my clothes...the ball that killed my horse went through my pants leg.'
He was in many tight spots he was never wounded. It was in the Battle of Sailors Creek that he was captured.
'Just as I was crossing the creek carrying a dispatch from General Hunton to General Wise, I ran right into a troop of Sheridan's cavalry; they commanded me to dismount and hand over the message I was carrying.'
What did he do? A big smile spread over the old man's wrinkled but eager face as he tell this part.
'I put it in my mouth and swallowed it.'
The Battle of Sailors Creek was fought on the Thursday before Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House on Sunday morning.

(Full Newpaper Story Archived by: Scott Buzik, GG Grandson)