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The monument to Confederate Major General William Mahone is on the west side of The Crater at Stop Eight on the Petersburg Eastern Front Auto Tour. A monument to Mahoney’s Brigade is nearby.
About William Mahone
William Mahoney was a native of Petrsburg. Before the war he was a civil engineer and railroad president. He became colonel of the 6th Virginia Infantry and was then promoted to brigadier general in 1861. He fought in all the actions of the Army of Northern Virginia and was with Lee at Appomattox.
Mahone was a small man of about five and a half feet and around one hundred pounds. When his wife, Otelia, was told that he had been wounded at the Second Battle of Manassas but that it had only been a flesh wound she replied, “Now I know it is serious, for William has no flesh whatsoever.”
During the Battle of the Crater Mahone was a Brigadier General commanding the division of Major General Richard H. Anderson after Anderson had been given command of the First Corps. Mahone would be promoted to Major General and given permanent command of the division on July 30. He would continue to command the division until the surrender at Appomattox.
Mahone’s Division was in reserve at the time of the Battle of the Crater. When the Union mine exploded he quickly moved his men to the threatened area and drove back the few Union units that had advanced beyond the Crater. He then attacked the mass of Union troops in the Crater until the survivors retreated or surrendered.
After the war Mahone returned to railroading, founded what became Virginia State University and the Central State hospital in Dinwiddie County, and was active in politics, serving as a United States Senator. His railroad and land holdings made him one of the wealthiest men in Virignia.
Text from the marker:
Mahone
to the memory of
William Mahone
Major General C.S.A.
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.
A citizen of Petersburg, Virginia,
Born Dec. 1, 1826
Died Oct. 9, 1895.
Erected by Petersburg Chapter
U.D.C.
Confederate Major General William Mahone
Location of the Monument
The monument to Major General William Mahone is on the walking trail on the northwest side of The Crater. (37.218647, -77.378175)