Louisa Court House
Raiders Intercepted
The Battle of Trevilian Station
You are standing in the historic town of Louisa Court House (now Louisa). During the Civil War, the Virginia Central Railroad passed through this county seat. The main street became the Gordonsville Road (Rte. 22/33) at the western end of town. The Marquis Road (Rte. 669), named for the Marquis de Lafayette, crossed the railroad several blocks northwest of here.
On June 7, 1864, Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan headed west from Cold Harbor with two of the Army of the Potomac's cavalry divisions. His mission was to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad junctions at Gordonsville, Cobham Station, and Charlottesville, unite with Gen. David Hunter's army, and return to the Army of the Potomac by way of the James River. During Sheridan's absense, the Army of the Potomac slipped across the river to invest the critical crossroads town of Petersburg.
Two days after Sheridan departed, Gen. Robert E. Lee sent two divisions of cavalry under Gen. Wade Hampton of South Carolina to intercept the raiders and protect Confederate supply lines. About 6,400 troopers with 15 pieces of horse artillery pursued Sheridan's 9,400-man force across Virginia. Both sides suffered from central Virginia's drought and heat wave. By taking a shorter route, Hampton reached Louisa Court House ahead of Sheridan on June 10, 1864, and Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's division camped around the county seat. One of Hampton's brigades bivouacked west of Trevilian Station, the other two at the depot.
Marker is at the intersection of West Main Street (U.S. 33) and Elm Avenue, on the right when traveling east on West Main Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
