SPOTTSYLVANIA  , a

county of Virginia, U.S.A., so called after Alexander Spotswood (q.v.), lieutenant governor of Virginia in 1710-1722, who owned extensive estates and mines therein . It isbounded on the N. by the Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers and on the S. by the North Anna . It is celebrated as containing several of the most famous battlefields of the Civil War—Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and particularly that of Spottsylvania Court House, where the armies of Grant and Lee contended for nearly two weeks (May 8-21, 1864) . The battles of Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Spottsylvania are described in the article WILDERNESS .