|
Dromo's Den
|
|
[Up] [Dromo's Den] William Mahone Biography MAHONE,
William (1826-95). An American soldier and legislator. He was born in
Southampton Co., Va., graduated at the Virginia Military Institute in 1847, and
became a civil engineer. On the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the
Confederate army and assisted in the capture of the Norfolk Navy Yard;
participated in most of the battles of the Peninsular and Rappahannock
campaigns; was distinguished for bravery at Petersburg, where he earned the
title "The Hero of the Crater"; became a major general and commanded a
division. After the war he became president of the Norfolk and Tennessee
Railroad, took a prominent part in Reconstruction politics, and was effective
in securing the nomination of Gilbert C. Walker in 1870, a compromise
candidate for Governor of Virginia, whereby the conservatives regained control
of the State. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination
to the governorship of Virginia in 1878, became the recognized leader of
the "Readjusters," a Democratic faction which favored a partial or
conditional repudiation of the State debt (see READJUSTERS), and in 1880 was
elected largely by this faction to the United States Senate. He here took the
unexpected course of allying himself with the Republicans, and thus brought
about a tie in place of the slight Democratic majority which had been expected.
He further alienated his constituents by his use of the Federal patronage in
Virginia which had been assigned to him by President
Arthur, and at the expiration of his term in 1887 he failed to secure a reëlection. The New International
Encyclopaedia, Vol. XIV
(New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920)
676.
|