Sgt. James Walton--Salem Flying Artillery, C.S.A.

Here at East Hill Cemetery is buried Sgt. James Walton (1838-1875). A gunner in Capt. Charles B. Griffin's Battery (Salem Flying Artillery), Walton fired one of the last artillery shots by Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House. Stationed in the yard of the George Peers house at the northeastern end of the village, Griffin's battery fired at Union cavalry until ordered to stop. Walton had just loaded powder into a gun when the order arrived; he discharged the cannon to clear it and saved the primer as a souvenir.