Here’s a remote possibility who may have been a student in the Wytheville area during the war.

J. P. Mays, Wythe County, Virginia, Militia, mustered into service in Wythe County, Virginia, April 2, 1962. Unit served fifteen days

……

J. P. Mays, 1st Lieutenant, Capt. J. V. Deaton’s Company (Wythe Reserves), Preston’s Battalion Virginia Reserves,* enlisted April 16, 1864 at Wytheville for the war, on furlough January 27, 1865, no further records

* This company subsequently became Company E, 4th Regiment Virginia Reserves

Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Virginia