Legacy William Mahone

mahone mausoleum @ blandford cemetery, identified m insignia

he interred in family mausoleum in blandford cemetery in petersburg, virginia. widow interred alongside him. mausoleum identified well&known monogram, initial m centered on star inside shield.

their first home in petersburg, occupied john dodson, petersburg s mayor in 1851-2, on south sycamore street. structure part of petersburg public library. in 1874, acquired , enlarged home on south market street , primary residence thereafter. virginia state university, helped found normal school, major community presence nearby.

a large portion of u.s. highway 460 in eastern virginia (between petersburg , suffolk) parallels 52-mile tangent railroad tracks mahone had engineered, passing through of towns 2 believed have named. several sections of road labeled general mahone boulevard , general mahone highway in honor. route 35 overpass of route 58 in native southampton county, virginia named general william mahone memorial bridge.

a monument mahone s brigade located on gettysburg battlefield.

the site of battle of crater major feature of national park service s petersburg national battlefield park. in 1927, united daughters of confederacy erected imposing monument memory. stands on preserved crater battlefield, short distance crater itself. monument states:

to memory of william mahone, major general, csa, distinguished confederate commander, valor , strategy @ battle of crater, july 30, 1864, won himself , gallant brigade undying fame.

in 2017, following violence @ unite right rally around removal of confederate monuments , memorials, university of chicago history professor jane dailey noted mahone remains largely uncommemorated, forgotten, despite military career , high esteem in lee held him possible successor. after end of political career, resurgent white democrats governing virginia had branded him , other white members of readjuster part autocratic race traitors, , late 1940s, mahone s memory invoked besmirch political opponents. dailey speculates in process, deliberately downplayed mahone s role in war obscure progressive policies of readjusters during reconstruction.

many of confederate monuments , statues under consideration removal or destruction. in 2017, roanoke times published editorial mahone , suggested new statue in honor: here confederate general tried build new south , erased history because of it. if want put our history in full context, might want put statue mahone.