William Mahone (1826-1895), American political leader and Confederate Army officer, led a movement of reformers in Virginia known as the Readjustors, with whose backing he won election to the U.S. Senate.

William Mahone was born on Dec. 1, 1826, in Monroe, Va. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and decided to become an engineer. He succeeded so well that at the age of 26 he was chief engineer of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad and at 33 was elected its president. He was a tiny man, hardly 5 1/2 feet tall and weighing less than 100 pounds, but he had complete confidence in himself and a commanding manner.

During the Civil War, Mahone distinguished himself in the Army of Northern Virginia, rising to the rank of major general. After the war he returned to the presidency of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad and began to consolidate it with other railroads in order to...