Leonard Covington (1768-1813)
MSA SC 3520-1877
Biography:
Born October 30, 1768, in Aquasco, Prince George's County, Maryland. Son of Levin (ca. 1740-1781) and Susannah (Magruder) Covington. One brother: Alexander. Married Susannah Somerville (? - ca. 1790), October 22, 1789; one daughter (name unknown), died young. Married Rebecca Mackall, March 29, 1796; five children: Levin, Rebecca, Benjamin, Susan, and Edward. Died November 13, 1813, from wounds received at the Battle of Chrysler's Field, near Cornwall, Ontario. Buried at French Mills, New York. Reinterred at Sackets Harbor (now Mt. Covington), Jefferson County, New York, 1820.
Leonard Covington was a Prince George's County planter and military hero. He joined the Army as a cornet in the Light Dragoons (cavalry) in 1792, not long after the death of his first wife Susanna and their young daughter. He fought in the Northwest Territories against allied Indian tribes, rising to the rank of captain, and participated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers, where the army commanded by Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne defeated the Indians.
Covington resigned his commission in 1795 and returned to the Covington family land in Prince George's County. He married his first cousin Rebecca Mackall on March 29, 1796, and the two had five children: Levin, Rebecca, Benjamin, Susan, and Edward. After his return home, Covington became a prominent public figure. He was chosen for the vestry of St. Paul's Church in Baden (but declined), and was appointed an election judge for the First District of Prince George's County in 1800. He was elected as a senatorial elector in 1801. In 1802, he was selected to take the recently vacated seat of Walter Bowie in the Maryland State Senate, although he declined the position. Covington was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1804 as a Democratic-Republican. In 1806, Covington was defeated in his reelection bid, but was apponted to fill a vacant seat in the Maryland Senate. He resigned from the Senate in 1809 and returned to military service.
Commissioned as a colonel in the Dragoons, Covington traveled west with his family, and served in the Mississippi Territory and at New Orleans. In 1813, while the United States fought Great Britain, Covington was promoted to Brigadier General, and ordered to northern New York in preparation for the American invasion of Canada. During this campaign, Covington was mortally wounded at the battle of Crysler’s Farm, and died a few days later onNovember 13, 1813.
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