In the hills of the Piedmont against the Blue Ridge Mountains, Madison County was formed from Culpeper County in 1792 and named for James Madison, the "father of the American Constitution" and the fourth president of the United States. It contains a portion of Shenandoah National Park, and during his presidency from 1929 to 1933, President Herbert Hoover had a rustic retreat constructed in the Blue Ridge Mountains there. The county seat is Madison. Culpeper County was formed from Orange County in 1749 and originally included the territory that now comprises Culpeper, Madison, and Rappahannock Counties. The Culpeper Minute Men battalion was formed there in 1775 at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. A number of Civil War battles and engagements took place there, including the Battle of Cedar Mountain on 9 Aug. 1862 and the Battle of Brandy Station on 9 June 1863. The county seat is Culpeper.