A Confederate and a Colt Named Peyton

Since there has been much speculation on whether the quarterback Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts is related to Major Peyton T. Manning of the Confederate Army and General James Longstreet’s staff, I decided to look into their families and see if there is a connection between them. The short answer: It doesn’t appear that there is, despite the fact they share an unusual first name.

Major Peyton Manning (1837-68) was born in Alabama and raised in Monroe County, Miss. He attended the Georgia Military Institute. He died in Monroe County in 1868. He was the son of Dr. George F. Manning, born circa 1813 in Alabama, and his wife Sarah F. Millwater (1819-1883). Dr. Manning was the son of Dr. James Manning (born circa 1775 in New Jersey, died May 3, 1841, in Huntsville, Ala.) and his wife Sophia Thompson (born circa 1780 in Georgia). Major Manning undoubtedly was named after his uncle, Peyton Manning.

Football player Peyton Williams Manning is the son of All-America quarterback Elisha Archibald “Archie” Manning III, born in 1949. Archie was the son of Elisha Archibald Manning II, who was the son of Elisha Archibald Richard Elam Manning (1830-1916), who was born in South Carolina. Richard was the son of Elisha Manning (1803-1866, born and died in South Carolina), who was the son of John Manning (1783-1844), who also was born and died in South Carolina. John’s father was Melea Manning (born 1757), and his grandfather was Moses Manning, who was born in 1731 in North Carolina and died in 1810 in South Carolina. The football player probably was named after Archie’s uncle, Peyton Manning.

As can be seen, there is no New Jersey or even Alabama connection in the football player’s family, who moved from South Carolina to Mississippi. Further, the names of Elisha’s grand­uncles are known, and none of them was named George.

Quarterback Peyton Manning’s great-grandfather Richard Elam Manning appears to have served in Company B, 36th Mississippi Infantry. So he does have Confederate Army connections, just not connections with Major Peyton Manning.

Bruce Allardice
author of More Generals in Gray
Des Plaines, Ill.

Defending Captain Warren Moseley

Three years ago I wrote a letter to you in response to a very interesting article written by William J. Miller, “The Two Pictures of Private Jemison.” Mr. Miller had identified the speaker telling the tale of Jemison’s death on the Atlanta street corner as Captain Warren Moseley, but went on to state that “no such name could be found on a Confederate roster.” As a genealogical researcher of the Moseley family, I was able to identify “Captain Warren Moseley” as “Private Warren Adolphus Moseley of the 4th Georgia Infantry Regiment,” explaining that his appellation of “Captain” was gained later in the war when he was a member of the 4th Regiment Georgia Reserve Cavalry. After reading “The Mystery of Private Jemison” in the May 2007 edition of your magazine, I am filled with regret at having provided his name!

This most recent article is filled with innuendo and embellishment, serving only to bolster the character assassination of Warren Moseley by the authors, Alexandra Filipowski and Hugh T. Harrington. Their opinion piece seems quite unfair, as Captain Moseley is not with us to answer their speculation.

Warren Moseley was a descendant of a distinguished Virginia family. Just like Edwin Jemison, he had Revolutionary War forebears. They were law-abiding people.

The encounter that took place on an Atlanta (not Macon) street corner in 1906 between Warren Moseley and Robert W. Jemison Jr., in which Moseley was relating one of his wartime experiences, did not “end awkwardly” as suggested by the authors. Until Warren Moseley met Robert W. Jemison Jr. on the street corner of Atlanta, he did not know who the fallen soldier at Malvern Hill had been. Robert W. Jemison Jr. provided the identification.

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