Davidson County is the oldest county in the 41-county region of Middle Tennessee. It dates to 1783, shortly after the end of the American Revolution, when it was named in honor of William Lee Davidson, a North Carolina general who was killed opposing the crossing of the Catawba River by British forces on February 1, 1781. The county seat, Nashville was founded by James Robertson and John Donelson during the winter of 1779 through 1780 and the waning days of the Revolutionary War. With a total area of 526 square miles, it has a polation count of 694,144 residents.