During the Civil War, Louisa Court House, now Louisa, stood on the Virginia Central Railroad in the county seat, where the main street became the Gordonsville Road at the western end of town and the Marquis Road, named for the Marquis de Lafayette, crossed the railroad several blocks northwest. On June 7, 1864, Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan rode west from Cold Harbor with two cavalry divisions of the Army of the Potomac to destroy Virginia Central Railroad junctions at Gordonsville, Cobham Station, and Charlottesville, join Gen. David Hunter's army, and return to the Army of the Potomac by way of the James River; during his absence, the Army of the Potomac crossed the river to invest Petersburg. Two days later, Gen. Robert E. Lee sent two cavalry divisions under Gen. Wade Hampton of South Carolina to intercept Sheridan and protect Confederate supply lines. About 6,400 troopers with 15 pieces of horse artillery pursued Sheridan's 9,400-man force across Virginia amid drought and intense heat. 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, with one of Hampton's brigades west of Trevilian Station and the other two at the depot.