Editing Goochland County, Virginia (section)

===Civil War===
{{One source|section|date=December 2020}}
The county was a site of a battle late in the war. When the war broke out, James Pleasants, a native of Goochland County and descendant of the [[James Pleasants|22nd governor of the state]], insisted he replace his uncle in the Goochland Light Dragoons (known during the war as Co. F, [[4th Virginia Cavalry]]). In 1861, he was allowed to take his uncle's place. In the winter of 1864, any troops who were close to home were allowed to return to recruit more soldiers.

At the same time, the young Union Colonel [[Ulric Dahlgren]] had a plan to infiltrate central Virginia, break out nearly 12,000 [[Union Army|Union]] prisoners from [[Belle Isle (Virginia)|Belle Isle]] in Richmond, the Confederate capital, and destroy the city. On March 1, 1864, Dahlgren's forces reached the plantations of Sabot Hill, Dover, and Eastwood in eastern Goochland.<ref name="Facets" />

On Pleasants's first night home, Dahlgren's raiders stole his horses but did not search the property. When Pleasants found out what happened, he grabbed his carbine and started off on foot after the raiders. Hearing a noise, he hid in the woods, and ordered a single Union cavalryman to surrender. Pleasants mounted the man's horse and forced the soldier to walk in front of him to search for more soldiers. Within a short amount of time, Pleasants had captured several Union prisoners and took them as prisoners back to Bowles' store. In all, he captured 15 Union soldiers, recovered 16 horses, and shot one officer who refused to surrender to him.<ref name="Facets" />

Eastwood was occupied by Plumer Hobson and his wife, the daughter of Brigadier General [[Henry A. Wise]], the last governor of Virginia before the war. On the previous night General Wise had arrived at Eastwood. When a Union detail arrived at Eastwood looking for him, his daughter said that he was in [[Charleston, South Carolina]]. Instead, he was already riding rapidly southeast to Richmond to warn the troops of the Union raiders.<ref name="Facets" />  Dahlgren went to Sabot Hill, the home of [[James Seddon]] and his wife. She answered the door and invited the officer in for some wine and Southern hospitality; she knew that Wise was on his way to Richmond and wanted to delay Dahlgren. Ultimately, due to the quick thinking by the families in Goochland, Wise was able to warn forces in Richmond, who defeated Dahlgren's raid.<ref name="Facets" />