Union troops had built forts around Covington to repel an expected attack from Confederate troops under Gen. Heth. On Sept. 17, 1862, a scouting party of 53 Union cavalrymen attacked a detachment of 101 Confederate troops camped at Snow's Pond. In the skirmish, 1 Union soldier and 5 Confederates were killed, and 1 Union soldier and 7 Confederates were wounded. Larkin Vaughan, a civilian, was killed by a stray shot.