He enlisted in Co. I, 4th Arkansas Infantry, at Dallas, Arkansas, on January 6, 1862, for twelve months. When the regiment was transferred to Mississippi in April 1862, Private Winton was left behind, sick at home. Those soldiers who were left behind were ordered to join various regiments then being organized in Arkansas. Accordingly, he enlisted in Co. H, 24th Arkansas Infantry, at Dallas, Arkansas, on June 25, 1862, for three years or the war. He was one of the lucky ones who escaped capture when Arkansas Post fell on January 11, 1863. Those men who were uncaptured were assigned to Hardy’s Arkansas Regiment about February 8, 1863. Private Winton went to Co. E of that regiment. The last record of him is a report that he was admitted to a hospital at Shreveport, Louisiana, on April 7, 1865, and returned to duty on April 13, 1865. Six weeks later the war ended in Arkansas, and Hardy's regiment broke up without formally surrendering.