River traffic led Union forces under Gen. James A. Garfield, later the 20th U.S. President, to occupy Louisa in Dec. 1861. C.S.A. troops attempted to capture the town on March 12 and 25-26, 1863. Southern partisans raided the area on Nov. 5, 1864, burning houses and 2 steamers and looting stores. Fort Bishop, U.S.A., was completed here just as the war ended in 1865 and was also called Fort Gallup and Fort Hill.