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William T. Mahone (December 1, 1826 – October 8, 1895), was a civil engineer, teacher, soldier, and a member of the Virginia General Assembly and U.S. Congress.
As a Major General of the Confederate Army, Mahone is best known for turning the tide of the Battle of the Crater against the Union advance during the Siege of Petersburg in the US Civil War. He was a civil engineer who helped build Virginia's railroads in the antebellum and postbellum (reconstruction) periods.
Mahone became a political leader in Virginia, led the Readjuster Party and helped found what is now Virginia State University. Small of stature, he was nicknamed "Little Billy".
Childhood, education
William T. Mahone was born in Monroe in Southampton County, Virginia on December 1, 1826 to Fielding Jordan Mahone and Martha (Drew) Mahone. The little town of Monroe was on the banks of the Nottoway River about 8 miles south of Jerusalem (now Courtland). Fielding Mahone ran a store at Monroe and owned considerable farmland. In 1840, the family moved to Courtland, where Fielding Mahone ran a tavern.
Young Billy Mahone gained his primary education from a country schoolmaster but with special instruction in math from his father. For a short time he transported the U. S. Mail by horseback from his home town to Hills Ford, now Emporia. He attended Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, and graduated with a degree as a civil engineer in the Class of 1847.
Civil engineer, railroad builder
Mahone worked as a teacher at Rappahannock Academy in Caroline County, Virginia beginning in 1848. He did some construction work on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, and was hired to build a plank road between Fredericksburg and Culpeper. In 1853, he was hired to build the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad (N&P). Mahone's innovative roadbed through the Great Dismal Swamp near Norfolk, Virginia, employed a log foundation laid at right angles beneath the surface of the swamp. Still in use today, Mahone's design withstands immense tonnages of coal traffic. He was also responsible for engineering and building the famous 52 mile-long tangent track between Suffolk and Petersburg which is a major artery of modern Norfolk Southern rail traffic. He was named president of the N&P in 1858.
In 1855, Mahone married Otelia Butler (1837-1911), the daughter of the late Dr. Robert Butler from Smithfield, Virginia, who was said to be a cultured lady. Otelia and William Mahone settled in Norfolk, Virginia and lived there before the Civil War. They had 13 children, but only 3 survived to adulthood, two sons, William T. Jr. and Robert, and a daughter, also named Otelia.
The Norfolk and Petersburg railroad was completed in 1858. Popular legend has it that they traveled along the newly completed railroad naming stations from Ivanhoe a book she was reading written by Sir Walter Scott. From his historical Scottish novels, she chose the place names of Windsor, Waverly, and Wakefield. She tapped the Scottish Clan "McIvor" for the name of Ivor, a small Southampton County town. When they reached a location where they could not agree, it is said that the name Disputanta was created.
"Little Billy": Hero of the Battle of the Crater
During the American Civil War, the dynamic Mahone was a Lt. Col. and Colonel of the 6th Virginia Infantry Regiment in the Confederate Army. Mahone took part in the capture of the Gosport Navy Yard at Portsmouth, Virginia, and commanded the Norfolk district until its evacuation. He was promoted to Brigadier General in November, 1861. He aided in the construction of the defenses of Richmond on the James River around Drewry's Bluff. In 1862, during the Peninsula Campaign, he led his brigade at the Battle of Seven Pines and the Battle of Malvern Hill. He also fought at the Second Battle of Manassas, Battle of Fredericksburg, Battle of Chancellorsville, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of the Wilderness, and Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse. William Mahone was widely regarded as the hero of the Battle of the Crater on July 30, 1864 during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864-1865. He was promoted to a Major General as a result, and was with Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia for the surrender at Appomattox Court House in April, 1865.
Small of stature, 5 foot 5 or 6 inches, and weighing only 100 lbs., he was nicknamed "Little Billy". As one of his soldiers put it, "He was every inch a soldier, though there were not many inches of him." Otelia Mahone was working in Richmond as a nurse, when Virginia Governor John Letcher sent word that Mahone had been injured in the Second Battle of Manassas, but had only received a "flesh wound." She is said to have replied "Now I know it is serious for William has no flesh whatsoever." Otelia and their children moved to Petersburg to be near him during the final campaign of the War in 1864-65.
Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio Railroad
After the war, William Mahone was the driving force in the linkage of N&P, Southside Railroad and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad to form the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad (AM&O), a new line extending from Norfolk to Bristol, Virginia in 1870. The letters A, M & O were said to stand for "All Mine and Otelia's." They lived in Lynchburg, Virginia during this time, but moved to Petersburg in or before 1880.
After several years of operating under receiverships, Mahone's role as a railroad builder ended in 1881 when northern interests purchased the A,M, & O and renamed it Norfolk and Western. Mahone was able to arrange for the proceeds of the sale to help found a school for teachers. The Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute near Petersburg was forerunner of Virginia State College, which expanded to become Virginia State University.
Virginia politics: Readjuster Party
William Mahone was active in the economic and political life of Virginia after the Civil War for almost 30 years. He served as mayor of Petersburg. After his unsuccessful bid for governor in 1877, he became the leader of the Readjuster Party, a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and African-Americans seeking a reduction in Virginia's prewar debt, and an appropriate allocation made to the former portion of the state which constituted the new State of West Virgina. He served as a Senator in the U.S. Congress from 1881 to 1887.
Heritage
After suffering a stroke, he died on October 8, 1895 in Washington, DC. He is buried Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia. His widow, Otelia, lived until 1911, and was buried with him.
Otelia and William Mahone's former home in Petersburg now serves as part of the Petersburg Public Library.
Virginia State University, which he helped found, is a major community presence nearby.
The site of the Battle of the Crater is a major feature of the National Park Service's Petersburg National Battlefield Park.
A monument to Mahone's Brigade is located at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
A large portion of U.S. Highway 460 between Petersburg and Suffolk, paralleling the 52-mile tangent tracks of the railroad he engineered. As the road passed through some of the towns he and Otelia are believed to have named, and sections in several counties are labeled "General Mahone Boulevard" and "General Mahone Highway" in his honor.
In 1927, the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected a beautiful monument to his memory. It stands in Petersburg Battlefield Park, on the preserved Crater Battlefield, a short distance from the Crater itself. The monument states:
- "To the memory of William Mahone, Major General, CSA, a distinguished Confederate Commander, whose valor and strategy at the Battle of the Crater, July 30, 1864, won for himself and his gallant brigade undying fame."
Trivia
- As of 1860, William Mahone owned 7 slaves, all black: 3 male (ages 13, 4, 2), 4 female (ages 45, 24, 11, 1)
References
Books
- Striplin, E. F. Pat. (1981) The Norfolk & Western : a history Roanoke, Va. : Norfolk and Western Railway Co. ISBN 0963325469
Websites
See also
- Confederate Military History, Vol. III, biography of William Mahone.
External links
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