Pittsylvania County, covering 1,015 square miles, was formed in 1766 from Halifax and named for William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, a British statesman; it is the largest county of Virginia and was the home of Claude A. Swanson, Governor of Virginia from 1906 to 1910. Campbell County, covering 557 square miles, was formed in 1781 from Bedford and named for General William Campbell, hero of the Battle of King’s Mountain in 1780; Tarleton passed through the county in 1781, and Union General Hunter was defeated near Lynchburg in 1864.