William Mahone

William Mahone (December 1, 1826 – October 8, 1895), of Southampton County, Virginia, was a civil engineer, teacher, soldier, railroad executive, and a member of the Virginia General Assembly and U.S. Congress. Small of stature, he was nicknamed "Little Billy".

As a civil engineer, he helped build Virginia's roads and railroads in the antebellum and postbellum (Reconstruction) periods of the 19th century.

During the American Civil War, as a leader eventually attaining the rank of major general of the Confederate States Army, Mahone is best known for turning the tide of the Battle of the Crater against the Union advance during the Siege of Petersburg in 1864.

Mahone became a political leader in Virginia, helping form and lead the coalition of blacks, Republicans, and Conservative Democrats that became known as the Readjuster Party. Although he lost control of the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad to northern interests who formed the Norfolk and Western in 1881, Mahone help arrange for part of the state's portion of the proceeds to help fund a teacher's school near his home at Petersburg. Founded to educate Virginia's large population of illiterate African Americans, the institution grew to become the modern-day Virginia State University.