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[Pages 64-69]
Lee, General Robert Edward, was born at "Stratford," Westmoreland
county, Virginia, January 19, 1807, son of Gen. Henry and Anne Hill (Carter) Lee, grandson of
Henry and Lucy (Grymes) Lee, and of Charles and Anne Butler (Moore) Carter. In 1811 Gen. Henry
Lee removed his family from Stratford to Alexandria, Virginia, where Robert received his
preparatory education, at the academy under W. B. Leary, and at the high school of which Benjamin
Hallowell, a Quaker, was head-master. He was graduated from the United States Military Academy,
second in his class of 1829, was commissioned second lieutenant of engineers and assigned to duty
in the engineer bureau, Washington. In September, 1831, he was ordered to duty on the defences at
Hampton Roads, where he remained, 1831-35. He was promoted first lieutenant in 1835 and became
assistant to the chief engineer at Washington. He was commissioned captain of engineers in 1836
and made astronomer of a joint commission created by the legislature of Ohio and Michigan to
determine the boundary line between those states. In 1837-40 he was employed on the Upper
Mississippi in constructing levees above St. Louis, Missouri. He was on topographical duty in
Washington, 1840-41, and on fortifications in New York harbor, 1841-45. In January, 1846, he was
ordered to report to Gen. Zachary Taylor on the Rio Grande, and was made chief engineer on the
staff of Gen. Wool and took part in the engagement at Palo Alto, May 8, at Resaca de la Palma,
May 9, and in the capture of Matamoras, May 18. Later Capt. Lee was made chief engineer on the
staff of Gen. Winfield Scott, at Vera Cruz. On March 13, Capt. Lee supported by the Palmetto
regiment of South Carolina and the First New York Volunteers, made a reconnoissance
of the Mexican lines, designated the position of the assaulting batteries to be constructed of
sand-bags within one thousand yards of the rock masonry walls of the city, and March 22 bor under
a flag of truce a demand for surrender. This being denied two days were given to remove the women
and children, when the army and navy opened fire, and on March 29 the Mexicans capitulated. The
American troops were without transportation, the Mexicans having cleared the country of horses
and mules. The situation was desperate as yellow fever threatened the place. In this emergency
Capt. Lee became responsible for the honesty of a Texan soldier, Col. Tom Kinney, and the
commanding general on his recommendation paid over to Kinney $50,000 in gold for six thousand
mules to be delivered within three days. The contract was carried out by bribing the paroled
Mexicans, and the army moved toward the city of Mexico. At Cerro Gordo Pass, April 14, 1847, the
engineering skill of Lee surmounted the advantage of position and the Mexicans under Santa Anna
were defeated, as they were at every stand through the valley to the city of Mexico. On September
13, 1847, at the head of the storming party, he planted the flag of South Carolina on the wall of
Mexico city, and the following day Capt. Lee rode at the right of Gen. Scott at the head of his
army of ten thousand men. In 1858, referring to this campaign, Gen. Scott said: "My success in
the Mexican war was largely due to the skill and valor of Robert E. Lee. He is the greatest
military genius in America; the best soldier I ever saw in the field; and if opportunity offers
he will show himself the foremost captain of his time.
He was brevetted
major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel of engineers for his services, and returned to his home in
Arlington. In 1848 he was ordered to Baltimore to construct defensive works, and he was
superintendent of the United States Military Academy, 1852-55. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel
in February, 1855, and assigned to the Second United States Cavalry, Col Albert Sidney Johnston.
The regiment was stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and in October was ordered to Fort
Mason, Texas, but Lee was detained on court-martial duty April, 1856, when he rejoined his
regiment in Texas and was engaged in repressing Indian outbreaks until October, 1859. He then
visited Arlington to settle the estate of his father-in-law, who had died in 1857, leaving him
first executor of his will. On October 17, 1859, he received orders to report to the
adjutant-general at Washington and was ordered to Harper's ferry in command of three companies of
marines to suppress a threatened attack on the United States arsenal. He found the arsenal in the
possession f a revolutionary party led by John Brown, numbering about forty-five men. Col. Lee
called upon him through Lieut. J. E. B. Stuart, under a flag of truce, to surrender, which Brown
refused to do unless guaranteed safe conduct with his prisoners and men across the river into
Maryland and not to be pursued until his party had gained a point half a mile from the arsenal.
This Lee refused, and at once opened an assault on the engine house on the arsenal grounds, in
which seventeen whites and three negroes were taken prisoners at the point of the bayonet. Col.
Lee had Brown and his wounded cared for in the arsenal by a surgeon of the marine corps and
afterward delivered them over to Judge Robert J. Ould, the United States district attorney. The
prisoners were given over to the state courts, and tried and convicted on a charge of treason,
murder and inciting insurrection among slaves, and the state militia supplanted the United States
troops as guard.
Col. Lee left Harper's Ferry, December 3, 1859, and
soon after rejoined his regiment at San Antonio, Texas, where he remained till ordered to
Washington, where, March 1, 1861, he reported to Lieut-Gen. Scott. Seven states had passed the
ordinance of secession, and on February 4, 1861, formed "The Confederate States of America."
Lincoln would be inaugurated resident, March 4, 1861, and Gen. Winfield Scott desired the advice
of the officers of the United States army. Col. Lee assured Gen. Scott that if Virginia seceded
and the government decided to coerce the states by military force, his sense of duty would oblige
him to go with his state. On March 10, 1861, Col. Lee was made a member of the board to revise
the "Regulations for the government of the United States army, and he filed the report of the
board April 18, 1861.
On April 15, 1861, President Lincoln called for
75,000 volunteers and Virginia was called upon for her quota. This demand left Virginia no
alternative, and the convention passed the ordinance of secession by a very large vote. President
Lincoln offered Col. Lee the command of the United States army, which Gen. Scott wished to
transfer to a younger man than himself. This offer was made at army headquarters through Francis
Preston Blair. Sr., April 18, 1861. Col. Lee replied that he was opposed to secession and
deprecated war, but that he could take no part in the invasion of the southern states,
considering such an act a breach of his oath to "support and defend the constitution of the
United States" as interpreted by Attorney-General Black. He reported his decision to Gen. Scott,
and on April 20, 1861, he tendered his resignation, at the same time addressing a letter to gen.
Scott, asking him to recommend its acceptance.
On April 23, 1861, upon
the invitation of a committee of the Virginia convention, he visited Richmond, where he accepted
the commission of commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of Virginia with the rank
of major-general. On April 24, 1861, in his address before the convention, assembled in Richmond,
accepting the trust, he closed with these words: "Trusting in Almighty God, an approving
conscience and the aid of my fellow-citizens, I devote myself to the service of my native state,
in whose behalf alone will I ever again draw my sword." on May 23, 1861, the people of Virginia
by a vote of 125,000 to 20,000 ratified the ordinance of secession, and the same day the United
States navy yard at Norfolk was evacuated by the United States authorities and taken possession
of by the Virginia state troops; 10,000 Federal soldiers crossed the Potomac and took possession
of Alexandria, Virginia. On May 29, President Davis with his cabinet arrived in Richmond, which
became the capital of the Confederate States of America. On June 8, 1861, Virginia transferred
her military forces to the new government and Gen. Lee became military adviser to Gov. Letcher,
commander-in-chief.
In selecting defensive lines for the state, he
designated Manassas Junction, where, on July 21, 1861, the first great battle was fought and won
by the Confederacy. After the death of Gen. Robert S. Garnett, Lee was ordered to command the
troops in western Virginia comprising about 6,500 men commanded by Generals Johnson, Loring, Wise
and Floyd. He had been commissioned a general in the Confederate army, but was outranked by both
Generals Cooper and Albert Sidney Johnston. He found the Federal forces commanded by Gen. W. S.
Rosecrans, with an army double the number under Lee, and both commanders acted on the defensive,
chiefly on account of incessant rains and the state of the roads. After the season for active
operations in the mountains was over, Lee was put in charge of the defenses of South Carolina and
Georgia. In the spring of 1862 he was made military adviser of President Davis. On June 1, 1862,
after Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had been wounded and the command of the Confederate army had
devolved on Gen. Gustavus W. Smith, President Davis appointed Gen. Lee to the command of the Army
of Northern Virginia, and he drove the army of McClellan to the protection of the Federal
gunboats at Harrison's Landing, on the James river. Lee had inflicted on his adversary a loss of
one hundred and fifty ordnance and commissary wagons and 12,000 stands of arms, burned to prevent
change of ownership, and 15,900 killed and wounded, 10,800 prisoners, 50 pieces of artillery, and
36,000 stands of arms captured by the Confederate army. On July 13 he detached Gen. Jackson with
22,000 men to operate against Pope, who was advancing upon Richmond by way of Manassas Junction,
and in August he advanced with the main body of his army, about 35,000 strong, to give battle.
The issue was joined at Manassas, August 29-30, and Pope's army made a hasty retreat to
Washington.
Gen. Lee then moved into Maryland, crossing the Potomac,
August 8, 1862, at Leesburg Ford. He issued a proclamation to the citizens of Maryland to rally
to the flag of the Confederacy, closing his appeal with these words: "While the people of the
Confederate States will rejoice to welcome you to your natural position among them, they will
only welcome you when you come of your own free will." Gen. Lee's army at this time amounted to
35,255 men, and had taken position near Sharpsburg, Maryland, between the Potomac river and
Antietam creek. On September 17, McClellan opened the battle, and the conflict continued during
the day. Lee showed splendid generalship, and with an army, much inferior to McClellan's, held
the field at the close of the battle and withdrew across the Potomac, without disorder, on
September 19, 1862. On October 8 Lee ordered Stuart with 5,000 horse to recross into Maryland and
harass McClellan's army, and he accomplished his purpose and entered the state of Pennsylvania
almost unopposed. On October 26, 1862, McClellan crossed the Potomac and encamped in Loudoun
county, Virginia, and on November 2, 1862, he was succeeded by Gen. Burnside. Then followed the
battle of Fredericksburg, where Burnside mustered 116,683 men and was opposed by Lee with 78,513
men. The battle was fought and won by Gen. Lee, December 13, 1862.
In
1862 Gen. Lee executed a paper emancipating all the slaves held by his estate, 196 in number, in
accordance with the will of his father-in-law, G. W. P. Custis, by which, five years after Mr.
Custis's death, which occurred October 10, 1857, all his slaves were to be freed. This was Lee's
second act as an emancipator, he having freed the slaves owned by himself in 1854, while an
officer in the United States army. On May 2-5, 1863, the Army of the Potomac, under Hooker,
recruited to the strength of 138,378 men, fought Gen. Lee's army of 53,000 men, 170 pieces of
artillery and 2,700 cavalry at Chancellorsville. Hooker was out-generaled and driven back to the
Rappahannock. On June 2, 1863, Lee moved toward the Potomac, and on 13, Hooker followed. The Army
of Northern Virginia invaded Pennsylvania late in June. Lee reached Gettysburg, July 1, 1863,
where he found the Army of the Potomac under Gen. Meade, who had succeeded Gen. Hooker. Meade
brought into action an army of 89,000 men with over 15,000 in reserve and Lee faced him with
62,500 men and no reserve. Each army lost over 20,000 men and no decisive victory was won by
either side. Lee failed in his effort to drive the Federal army before him, and Meade's army was
too shattered to do anything more. Lee retired across the Potomac into Virginia and Meade did not
attack, and was soon relieved from his command.
On August 8, 1863, Gen.
Lee tendered his resignation to President Davis, but Davis refused to receive it and wrote: "To
ask me to substitute you by some one in my judgment more fit to command, or who would possess
more of the confidence of the army or of the reflecting men of the country, is to demand an
impossibility." Gen. Lee confronted Gen. Grant at the Wilderness, May 5, 1864, and the battles
that followed up to June 3, 1864, ended with that of Cold
Harbor, in which Grant's army lost 16,000 men killed and wounded in a succession of assaults. In
forcing Lee's army of 63,000 men seventy-five miles, Gen. Grant with 149,000 men lost 61,000,
then followed the investment of the Army of Northern Virginia within the lines of Richmond and
Petersburg, where the armies of the Potomac and James slowly crushed out its life after a ten
months' siege, ending with the evacuation of Richmond, April 2, and the surrender of its remnant
of an army comprising 10,000 officers and men at Appomattox, April 12, 1865.
Gen. Lee's last words to his army were: "Men, we have fought together for four years. I
have tried to do the best I could for you."
On August 24, 1865, Gen. Lee
accepted the presidency of Washington College, at Lexington, Virginia, at a salary of $1,500 per
annum, declining several offers with much larger salaries. He was formally inaugurated, September
18, 1865, and under his administration the college greatly prospered. He received the honorary
degree of LL. D., from Mercer University, Georgia, in 1866. In 1871 the general assembly of
Virginia changed the name of the institution to Washington and Lee University, and as a further
memorial a recumbent statue of Gen. Lee by Valentine was presented to the university by the Lee
Memorial Association and his remains placed in a vault under the statue. This statue was unveiled
by the association with appropriate ceremony in June, 1873. An equestrian statue by
Mercièw, surmounting a massive pedestal erected in Capitol Square Richmond, Virginia, was
unveiled and dedicated May 29, 1890. On June 19, 1901, bronze busts of Washington and Lee were
unveiled at the university; the former being the gift of Oscar Straus, of New York, and the
latter of Frank T. Howard, class of 1874, of New Orleans. The busts were placed on either side of
the archway leading to the rotunda. In 1869 Gen. Lee prepared a new edition of, and added a
memoir to, his father's work, "War in the Southern Department of the United States" (2 vols.).
See also biographies of John Esten Cooke (1871), Edward A. Pollard (1871), John W. Jones (1874),
and E. Lee Childe (London, 1875); "Four Years with General Lee," by Walter H. Taylor (1877);
"Memoirs" by Gen. A. L. Long (1886), and "Robert E. Lee and the Southern Confederacy," by Henry
A. White (1899).
On June 30, 1831, he was married at "Arlington House,"
Virginia, by the Rev. Mr. Keith, to Mary Anne Randolph, only daughter of George Washington Parke
and Mary Lee (Fitzhugh) Custis, and a descendant of John Custis, who came to Virginia from
England in the seventeenth century. This alliance subsequently made Lee master of Arlington
estate, and of the White House estate on the Pamunky river. Gen. Lee died at Lexington, Virginia,
October 12, 1870. The estimate of his character and abilities has been continually rising. Lord
Wolseley referred to him as "the greatest soldier of his age," and "the most perfect man I ever
met."
[Pages 69-70]
Lee, Robert Edward, Jr., youngest son of Gen. Robert E. Lee (q.
v.), and Mary Anne Randolph Custis, his wife, was born at "Arlington," Fairfax county, Virginia,
October 27, 1843. His early education was under the superintendence of his father, and
his further studies were continued at the school of Mr. Ambler, and at the University of
Virginia, where he matriculated in the autumn of 1860. After the passage by the Virginia
convention of the ordinance of secession, Lee went with one of the companies organized among the
students at the university to seize the arms and ammunition in the arsenal at Harper's Ferry. In
February, 1862, he entered the "Rockbridge Artillery" and as a private in that battery took part
in Jackson's celebrated valley campaign, and was with it during the "Seven Days Battles" in front
of Richmond, at "Cedar Mountain," at "Second Manassas," and notably at "Antietam" (Sharpsburg)
where his father failed to recognize him owing to his changed appearance, blackened and grimy
with the dust and sweat of battle. Six weeks after Antietam he was appointed, October 30, 1862,
aide-de-camp, with the rank of first lieutenant, on the staff of his brother, Gen. William H. F.
Lee, and served till the end. After the war he pursued the simple life of a farmer, refusing to
enter public life. He lived at "Romancoke," in King William county,, formerly the estate of Col.
William Claiborne after he was driven from Kent Island by Lord Baltimore, and died at "Nordley,"
his summer home, in Fauquier county,, October 19, 1914. His remains were taken to Lexington, and
a great concourse of people witnessed their interment by the side of his illustrious father. He
married (first) in 1871, Charlotte Haxall, daughter of Barton Haxall, of Richmond. He married
(second) his cousin, Juliet, daughter of Col. Thomas Hill Carter. He was the author of
"Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee," Doubleday, Page & Co, New York, 1904.
[Page 70]
Lee, William Henry Fitzhugh, born in the "Lee mansion," Arlington
(now National Cemetery), Virginia, May 31, 1837; in 1857 entered Harvard College, but left in
1857; appointed second lieutenant in the Sixth Regiment United States Infantry, and accompanied
his regiment in 1858 in the expedition to Utah; resigned in 1859; returned to Virginia and took
charge of his estates in the county of New Kent; in 1861 raised a company of cavalry and joined
the Confederate service, and was promoted successively from captain to major-general of cavalry;
wounded at Brandy Station in June, 1863; captured in Hanover county by a raiding party, and taken
to Fortress Monroe; transferred to United States prison at Fort Lafayette in 1863, where he was
confined until March, 1864, when he was transferred to Fortress Monroe and exchanged; returned to
his command, and served throughout the campaign of 1864, until the surrender at Appomattox;
returned to his plantation; member of the state senate for one term; removed to Burke's Station,
Fairfax county, Virginia; president of the state agricultural society; engaged in agricultural
pursuits; elected as a Democrat to the fiftieth and fifty-first congresses (March 4, 1887-March
3, 1891); died at "Ravensworth," Loudoun county, Virginia, October 15, 1891.
[Pages 70-71]
Lilley, R. D., in 1861 entered the Confederate service as captain
of the Augusta Lee Rifles, and took part in the operations in western Virginia; subsequently his
regiment was attached to Early's brigade of Ewell's division, with which he was identified
throughout 1862. He was promoted major in 1863, and in the following spring was with Imboden in
western Virginia, later being assigned to Jones' brigade of the Stonewall division. He was
promoted to brigadier-general and given command of Early's old brigade, which he led in the
expedition through Maryland against Washington. He was severely wounded, and captured near
Winchester, July 20, 1864, but four days later was retaken by his own men. Until the close of the
war he commanded the reserve forces in the valley district. He died November 12, 1886.
[Pages 71-72]
Logan, Thomas Muldrup, born at Charleston, South Carolina,
November 3, 1840, son of Judge George William Logan and Anna D'Oyley Glover, his wife, and a
representative of a family of Scotch ancestry, located at Restalrig, Scotland, and among the more
noted members are the following: Col. George Logan of the British army, the pioneer ancestor of
this line, who settled in Charleston, South Carolina; Robert Daniel Logan, governor of South
Carolina, 1716; William Logan, prominent in the affairs of the colony during revolutionary
period; Dr. George Logan, for forty years physician of the Charleston City Orphan Asylum, author
of medical books, and who served a long period as United States naval surgeon in charge of the
naval station of Charleston. Judge Logan, aforementioned, devoted his attention to the practice
of law, served as judge of the city court of Charleston and was the author of a "Record of the
Logan Family." Thomas M. Logan attended the schools in the neighborhood of his home, and later
entered South Carolina College at Columbia, from which he was graduated in 1860, taking highest
honor. Shortly afterwards he enlisted as a private in the famous Washington Light Infantry of
Charleston, served during the operations which culminated in the capture of Fort Sumter, and
later assisted in organizing the company that became Company A of the Hampton Legion, and was
elected second lieutenant, later promoted to captain, and bore his full part in the campaign of
the summer and autumn of 1862; was wounded at the battle of Gains' Mills, but rejoined his
command in time to lead his men in the field of Second Manassas. In the battle of Sharpsburg or
Antietam he was promoted major of his regiment for gallant conduct, and on December 13, 1862, the
regiment bore it part in the great Confederate victory at Fredericksburg. Major Logan was
promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and served creditably in the Suffolk and Black Water
campaign of Longstreet, and later was made colonel and put in command of his regiment. In
December, 1864, General M. C. Butler was made major-general, and he recommanded that
Col. Logan be promoted and assigned to the command of his old brigade, which was accordingly
done, and Col. Logan, though one of the junior colonel of his state, was commissioned
brigadier-general, and was at that time the youngest brigadier in the army. He assisted Gen. Wade
Hampton in resisting Gen. Sherman's march through the Carolinas, and while in command of the rear
guard of Johnston's army, Gen. Logan, at the head of Keith's battalion of his brigade, made the
last cavalry charge of the war, and was present when the terms of surrender of Gen. Johnston's
army were arranged. After the war, Gen. Logan located in Richmond, Virginia, and for twelve years
was engaged in his chosen profession law, which he relinquished in order to organize the
system of railroads now represented by the Southern railway system. He was also an active factor
in the organization of various railroads and other enterprises, and subsequently the Gray
National Telautograph Company, of which he became president. He was a staunch adherent of the
policy of the Democratic party, but never sought or held public office; he served as chairman of
the executive committee of his party in 1879, was active in the organization of the Gold
Democratic party of Virginia in the first McKinley campaign of 1896, and was elected chairman of
its executive committee. He held membership in the Westmoreland Club, of Richmond; the
Commonwealth Club, of Richmond; the Manhattan Club, of New York, and the Southern Society, of New
York. His greatest pleasure was derived from reading and out-door life in the country. Gen. Logan
married, May 25, 1865, Kate Virginia, daughter of Judge James H. Cox, of Chesterfield county,
Virginia. They were the parents of eleven children.
[Page 72]
Lomax, Lunsford Lindsay, was born at Newport, Rhode Island, son of
Maj. Mann Page Lomax, U. S. A., of Virginia. He graduated from the United States Military Academy
in 1856, and served on frontier duty until April 25, 1861, when he resigned, holding the rank of
first lieutenant. Appointed to a captaincy in the Virginia state forces, he was made assistant
adjutant-general to Gen. J. E. Johnston; later he was transferred to the west, as
inspector-general to Gen. McCulloch; in October, 1862, he was made inspector-general of the Army
of East Tennessee, and bore a part in the operations and battles in Arkansas, Mississippi and
Tennessee. In 1863, as colonel of the Eleventh Virginia Cavalry, he served in West Virginia, and
in the Pennsylvania campaign. On July 23 he was promoted to brigadier-general, and served
gallantly with his brigade under Fitzhugh Lee, and August 10, 1864, was promoted to
major-general, and rendered distinguished service in the valley under Early. At Woodstock,
October 9, he was captured, but escaped a few hours later. On October 31 he was given command of
Early's cavalry wing, and March 29, 1865, was given command of the ninth valley district. After
the fall of Richmond, he reached Lynchburg, and after Lee's surrender he joined Gen. Johnston at
Greensboro, North Carolina, and, with him, surrendered to Gen. Sherman. Returning home, he
accepted the presidency of Blacksburg College, resigning after five years' service. He was later
engaged in the war records office in Washington City.
[Pages 72-73]
Long, Armistead Lindsay, born in Campbell county, Virginia,
October 13, 1827. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1850; was at Fort
Moultrie until 1852, and on frontier duty as first lieutenant until 1854. In 1855 he was again
sent west. In 1860 he was at the Augusta (Georgia) arsenal, whence he was sent to Washington City
as aide to Gen. Sumner. He resigned, and was commissioned major of artillery, C. S. A., and was
sent to West Virginia as chief of artillery to Gen. Loring. In the fall of 1861 he was attached
to Gen. R. E. Lee as military secretary, with the rank of colonel. His efficiency was
particularly shown in his disposition of artillery at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and
Gettysburg. In September, 1862, he was promoted to brigadier-general, made chief of artillery of
the Second Corps, and conducted artillery operations with masterly skill in the movement on
Washington, the operations in the Shenandoah Valley, and to the surrender. After the war he was
chief engineer of the James River & Kanawha Canal. He soon afterward lost his eyesight, and at
Charlottesville passed the last twenty years of his life in total darkness, during which time he
wrote his "Memoirs of Gen. Robert E. Lee," a model of biographical history and military
operations. He died April 29, 1891.
[Page 73]
Magruder, John Bankhead, born in Winchester, Virginia, August 15,
1810; entered the University of Virginia in 1825, where he remained two years; then entered the
Military Academy at West Point, from which he was graduated in 1830; entered the Mexican war and
served with distinction as a captain of artillery; for gallantry at Cerro Gordo he was brevetted
major, and at Chapultepec, where he was wounded, he was brevetted lieutenant-colonel; after the
war he was stationed at Newport; at the outbreak of the civil war he came south and offered his
services to his native state; he was in command of the Confederate forces in the Peninsula, and
made a great reputation for efficiency there, with a small command, having greatly deceived his
opponent, and having won the battle of Big Bethel; for services there rendered he was made
major-general, and took part in the fights around Richmond, having been in the terrible fight at
Malvern Hill; in the fall of 1862 he was given command of the department of Texas, and in 1863
recovered Galveston, capturing the United States ship, Harriet Lane, with land forces
alone; after the close of the war he went to Mexico and took service as major-general under the
ill-fated Maximilian, upon whose downfall he returned to Houston, Texas, where he died February
19, 1871.
[Pages 73-74]
Mahone, William, born near Monroe, Southampton county, Virginia,
December 1, 1826, son of Col. Fielding J. Mahone, who commanded a regiment of militia during the
"Nat Turner Insurrection." He began his education under his father, attended school two years,
and then entered the Virginia Military Institute, from which he was graduated in 1847. He taught
for two years at the Rappahannock Military Academy, studied engineering, and became chief
engineer and instructor on the Norfolk & Petersburg Railroad. In 1861 he entered the Confederate
army as lieutenant-colonel of the Sixth Virginia Infantry Regiment. He was present at the capture
of the Norfolk navy yard in April, 1861, participated in most of the battles of the Peninsula
campaign, on the Rappahannock, and at Petersburg, where he won the sobriquet of "the hero of the
crater," for his bravery at the time of its explosion under Grant's mining operations, July 30,
1864. He was commissioned brigadier-general in March, 1864, and major-general in August, for
distinguished services at Petersburg. Gen. Lee held him as inferior only to "Stonewall" Jackson.
Later he commanded a division in A. P. Hill's corps, and was at Bermuda Hundred when Lee
surrendered. After the war he devoted himself to railroad matters, and became president of the
Norfolk & Tennessee Railroad Company. He was defeated in 1878 for the nomination for governor,
but became the leader of the Readjuster party, and in 1880 was elected United States senator,
serving until 1887, when he was defeated for a re-election. He died in Washington City, October
8, 1895.