William Mahone (December 1, 1826October 8, 1895) was an American civil engineer, railroad executive, and Confederate States Army general. After the Civil War he became a defender of the rights of freedmen and a leader of the Readjuster Party. He represented Virginia in the United States Senate between 1881 and 1887.

As a young man, Mahone was prominent in building Virginia's roads and railroads. As chief engineer of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, he built log-foundations under the routes in the Great Dismal Swamp in southeast tidewater Virginia that are still intact today. According to local tradition, several new railroad towns were named after the novels of Sir Walter Scott, a favorite British/Scottish author of Mahone's wife, Otelia.

In the American Civil War, Mahone was pro-secession and served as a general in the Confederate States Army. He was best known for regaining the initiative at the late war siege of Petersburg, Virginia, while Confederate troops were in shock after a huge mine/load of black powder kegs was exploded beneath them by tunnel-digging former coal miner Union Army troops resulting in the Battle of the Crater in July 1864; his counter-attack turned the engagement into a disastrous Union defeat.

After the war, he returned to railroad building, merging three lines to form the important Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad (AM&O), headquartered in Lynchburg. He also led the Readjuster Party, a state political party with a coalition of freemen blacks, Republicans, and populist Democrats. The Virginia General Assembly elected Mahone to the U.S. Senate in 1881.

Early life

William Mahone was born at Brown's Ferry near Courtland in Southampton County, Virginia, to Fielding Jordan Mahone and Martha (née Drew) Mahone. Beginning with the immigration of his Mahone ancestors from Ireland, he was the third individual to be called "William Mahone". He did not have a middle name as shown by records including his two Bibles, Virginia Military Institute (VMI) diploma, marriage license, and Confederate Army commissions. Likewise, the General and Otelia's first-born son was christened William Mahone. During similar cultural naming transitions in Virginia, the suffix "Jr." was added to his name later.

The little town of Monroe was on the banks of the Nottoway River about eight miles south of the county seat at Jerusalem, a town which was renamed Courtland in 1888. The river was a vital transportation artery in the years before railroads, and later highways served the area. Fielding Mahone ran a store at Monroe and owned considerable farmland. He also enslaved several people for their forced labor. The family narrowly escaped the killings of local whites during Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831.

The local transportation shift in the area was from the river to the new technology emerging with railroads in the 1830s. In 1840, when William was 14 years old, the family moved to Jerusalem, where Fielding Mahone purchased and operated a tavern known as Mahone's Tavern. As recounted by his biographer, Nelson Blake, the freckled-faced youth of Irish-American heritage gained a reputation in the small town for both "gambling and a prolific use of tobacco and profanity".

Young Billy Mahone gained his primary education from a country schoolmaster but with special instruction in mathematics from his father. As a teenager, for a short time, he transported the U. S. Mail by horseback from his hometown to Hicksford, a small town on the south bank of the Meherrin River in Greensville County, which later combined with the town of Belfield on the north bank to form the current independent city of Emporia. He was awarded a spot as a state cadet at the recently opened Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia. Studying under VMI Commandant William Gilham, he graduated with a degree as a civil engineer in the Class of 1847.

Early career

thumb|left|upright=0.8|William Mahone in his younger years

Mahone worked as a teacher at Rappahannock Academy in Caroline County, Virginia, beginning in 1848, but was actively seeking an entry into civil engineering. He did some work helping locate the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, an 88-mile line between Gordonsville, Virginia, and the City of Alexandria. Having performed well with the new railroad, he was hired to build a plank road between Fredericksburg and Gordonsville.

On April 12, 1853, he was hired by Dr. Francis Mallory of Norfolk, as chief engineer to build the new Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad (N&P). William Mahone, chief engineer, advertised for contractors who would regrade the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad for 62 miles from the Warwick Swamp of the Blackwater River to Norfolk in 1853. Mahone's innovative 12-mile-long roadbed through the Great Dismal Swamp between South Norfolk and Suffolk employed a log foundation laid at right angles beneath the surface of the swamp. Still in use over 160 years later, Mahone's corduroy design withstands the immense tonnages of modern coal trains. He was also responsible for engineering and building the famous 52-mile-long tangent track between Suffolk and Petersburg. With no curves, it is a major modern Norfolk Southern rail traffic artery.

In 1854, Mahone surveyed and laid out with streets and lots of Ocean View City, a new resort town fronting on the Chesapeake Bay in Norfolk County. With the advent of electric streetcars in the late 19th century, an amusement park was developed there, and a boardwalk was built along the adjacent beach area. Most of Mahone's street plan is still in use in the 21st century as Ocean View, now a section of the City of Norfolk is redeveloped.

Mahone was also a surveyor for the Norfolk and South Air Line Railroad on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Her mother was Butler's second wife, Otelia Voinard Butler (1803–1855), originally from Petersburg.

The Mahone family escaped the yellow fever epidemic that broke out in the summer of 1855 and killed almost a third of the populations of Norfolk and Portsmouth by fleeing the city and staying with his mother 50 miles away in Jerusalem (now known as Courtland) in rural Southampton County. However, because the epidemic decimated the Norfolk area, with financial consequences as well, work on the new railroad to Petersburg almost came to a standstill.

Ever frugal, Mahone and his mentor, Dr. Mallory, nevertheless pushed the project to completion in 1858, and Mahone was named its president a short time later. Popular legend claimed Otelia and William Mahone traveled along the newly completed railroad, naming stations from Ivanhoe and other books 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, Disputanta was created.

American Civil War

thumb|right|General Mahone in Confederate uniform, 1864–1865

As the political differences between Northern and Southern United States factions escalated in the second half of the 19th century, Mahone favored southern states' secession. During the American Civil War, he was active in the conflict even before he became an officer in the Confederate Army. Early in the war, in 1861, his Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad was especially valuable to the Confederacy and transported ordnance to the Norfolk area, where it was used during the Confederate occupation. By the war's end, most of what was left of the railroad was under U.S. control.

After Virginia declared secession from the United States in April 1861, Mahone was still a civilian and not yet in the Confederate Army. Still, working in coordination with Walter Gwynn, he orchestrated the ruse and capture of the Gosport Shipyard. He bluffed U.S. Army troops into abandoning the shipyard in Portsmouth by running a single passenger train into Norfolk with great noise and whistle-blowing, then much more quietly sending it back west and then returning the same train, creating the illusion of large numbers of arriving troops to the U.S. soldiers listening in Portsmouth across the Elizabeth River (and just barely out of sight). The ruse worked, and not a single Confederate soldier was lost as the U.S. authorities abandoned the area and retreated to Fort Monroe across Hampton Roads. After this, Mahone accepted a commission as lieutenant colonel and later colonel of the 6th Virginia Infantry Regiment, and remained in Norfolk, which was now under the command of Benjamin Huger. Mahone was subsequently promoted to brigadier general on November 16, 1861, and commanded the Confederate's Norfolk district until its evacuation the following year.

In May 1862, after Confederate forces fled Norfolk during the Peninsula Campaign, Mahone aided in the construction of the defenses of Richmond on the James River around Drewry's Bluff. A short time later, he led his brigade at the Battle of Seven Pines,

However, in early April 1865, Grant's strategy at Petersburg eventually succeeded in severing the last rail line from the southern states to supply Petersburg (and hence Richmond). At the Battle of Sailor's Creek on April 6, Lee exclaimed in front of Mahone, "My God, has the army dissolved?" to which he replied, "No, General, here are troops ready to do their duty." Touched by the loyalty of his men, Lee told Mahone, "Yes, there are still some true men left ... Will you please keep those people back?" Mahone was also with Lee at the surrender at Appomattox Court House three days later.

Return to railroading

thumb|left|Share of the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio RR from 1871, signed by William Mahone as president

After the war, Lee advised his generals to return to work rebuilding the southern states' economies. William Mahone did just that and became the driving force in the linkage of N&P, South Side Railroad, and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. He was president of all three by the end of 1867. During the post-war Reconstruction period, he worked diligently lobbying the Virginia General Assembly to gain the legislation necessary to form the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad (AM&O), a new line comprising the three railroads he headed, extending 408 miles from Norfolk to Bristol, Virginia, in 1870. This conflicted with the expansion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Baltimore and Alexandria, Virginia. The Mahones were colorful characters: the letters A, M & O were said to stand for "All Mine and Otelia's". In 1881, Mahone led the successful effort to elect the readjuster candidate William E. Cameron as the next governor, and he became a United States Senator.

The Readjuster Party did more than refinance the Commonwealth's debts. The party invested heavily in schools, especially for African Americans, and appointed African American teachers for such schools. The party increased funding for what is now Virginia Tech and established its black counterpart, Virginia State. The Readjuster Party abolished the poll tax and the public whipping post. Because of expanded voting, Danville elected a black-majority town council and hired an unprecedented integrated police force.

thumb|left|An 1881 political cartoon published in [[Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper depicting the newly elected U.S. Senator William Mahone as controlling the balance of power in the Senate.]]

With the Senate split 37–37 between Republicans and Democrats, Mahone and another third-party candidate willing to caucus with the latter had political influence. Under Senate rules, Vice President of the United States Chester A. Arthur, a Republican, would cast any tie-breaking votes. Mahone bargained for significant concessions before he decided to caucus. Despite being a first-year senator, he became chair of the influential Agriculture Committee. He gained control over Virginia's federal patronage from President James A. Garfield and by the right to select both the Senate's Secretary and Sergeant at Arms.

However, Mahone still faced opposition from the Conservative Party of Virginia, which aligned with the Democrats and grew even more powerful after the 1884 election, when Democrat Grover Cleveland was elected president (with its patronage perks). Mahone maintained his Republican Party affiliation, leading Virginia delegations to the Republican National Conventions of 1884 and 1888. However, he lost his Senate seat to Conservative Democrat John W. Daniel in 1886.

In 1889, Mahone ran for governor on a Republican ticket but lost to Democrat Philip W. McKinney. It was to be 80 more years before Virginia sent another non-Democrat to the Governor's Mansion (Republican A. Linwood Holton Jr., in 1969).

Death

Although out of office, Mahone continued to stay involved in Virginia-related politics until he suffered a catastrophic stroke in Washington, D.C., in the fall of 1895. He died a week later, at 68. His widow, Otelia, lived in Petersburg until her death in 1911.

Legacy

Although Mahone was not to live to see the outcome, Virginia and West Virginia disputed the new state's share of the Virginia government's debt for several decades. The issue was finally settled in 1915 when the United States Supreme Court ruled that West Virginia owed Virginia $12,393,929.50 (~$ in ). The final installment of this sum was paid off in 1939.

thumb|right|Mahone mausoleum at Blandford Cemetery, identified by its "M" insignia

He was interred in the family mausoleum in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia. His widow was interred alongside him. His well-known monogram identifies the mausoleum, an initial "M" centered on a star inside a shield.

Their first home in Petersburg, originally occupied by John Dodson, Petersburg's mayor in 1851–2, was on South Sycamore Street. That structure is now part of the Petersburg Public Library. In 1874, they acquired and greatly enlarged a home on South Market Street, their primary residence after that. Virginia State University, which he helped found as a normal school, is a major community presence nearby.

A large portion of U.S. Highway 460 in eastern Virginia (between Petersburg and Suffolk) parallels the 52-mile (84 km) tangent railroad tracks that Mahone had engineered, passing through some of the towns that the two are believed to have named. Several road sections are labeled "General Mahone Boulevard" and "General Mahone Highway" in his honor. The Route 35 overpass of Route 58 in his native Southampton County, Virginia is named "The General William Mahone Memorial Bridge".

A monument to Mahone's Brigade is on the Gettysburg Battlefield.

The site of the Battle of the Crater is a major feature of the National Park Service's Petersburg National Battlefield Park. In 1927, the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected an imposing monument to his memory. It stands on the preserved Crater Battlefield, a short distance from the Crater itself. The monument states:

See also

  • List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)

Notes

References

  • Evans, Clement A., Confederate Military History, Vol. III (biography of William Mahone)', 1899.
  • Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. .
  • Striplin, E. F. Pat., The Norfolk & Western: a history Norfolk and Western Railway Co., 1981, .
  • Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. .
  • Official Website for Mahone's Tavern & Museum including the History of William Mahone
  • Map of Norfolk & Petersburg Rail Road, issued by William Mahone
  • The New Method of Voting by William Mahone, The North American review. Volume 149, Issue 397, December 1889.
  • [https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Presidents_Death_Eases_Senate_Deadlock.htm Conversion from Readjuster to Republican
  • Luebke, P. C. William Mahone (1826–1895). In Encyclopedia Virginia.