William Mahoney was born around 1837 in Ireland. He eventually immigrated to America and settled in Vermont. By the early 1860s, he was working as a farmer in Troy. He enlisted in the Union army on June 7, 1862, and received a $25 bounty. He mustered in as a corporal in Company E of the 10th Vermont Infantry on September 1. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with sandy hair and dark eyes. The regiment took part in the Battle of the Wilderness, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, the Battle of Cold Harbor, the Battle of Monocacy, and the siege of Petersburg. He served as part of the regimental color guard. He died at Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864.