Historians estimate that about ten percent of soldiers who enlisted in the Union Army were under the age of 18. That’s shocking enough, but not as unsettling as when you see a photo of one of these child soldiers, such as the above tintype of Charles Dewey Manning.
Manning was born on October 24, 1847, in Bowmenville, Ontario, Canada, a town just east of Toronto on Lake Ontario. He was the second child of Charles Lennox & Jane Jennet (Baker) Manning, but they would have three more . . . after they immigrated to the United States. In early 1848, the Mannings moved to Rockton, Illinois, where Charles Sr. set up a saddle- and harness-making business, as recorded on both the 1850 and 1860 censuses.
When the Civil War started, Charles Dewey Manning was just 13 years old. But two months after he turned 16, on January 5, 1864, he volunteered to serve as a private in the 9th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry. His father was with him that day in Belvidere, and attested on his son’s enlistment papers that this 5-foot-4 teenager was the age he claimed.
Manning reported for duty at Camp Butler in Springfield, Illinois, on February 1, 1864, and was mustered into Company I. Manning was a recruit—the 9th Illinois Cavalry had been organized in the fall of 1861 and was then stationed in western Tennessee, but it needed to replenish its ranks. Manning was sent first to Fort Pickering in Memphis, where he was assigned as a provost guard. Much of the regiment was then out on furlough, but when the veterans returned and prepared to rejoin the war, Manning was promoted on May 31—162 years ago today—to the rank of saddler, the equivalent to a sergeant. He was responsible for repairing the company’s saddles, tack, and leather equipment.
Troops at Fort Pickering, Memphis, Tennessee, 1865.
Ten days later, on June 10, 1864, Manning first saw combat at the Battle of Brice’s Cross Roads, sometimes called the Battle of Guntown or the Battle of Tishomingo Creek. Though they outnumbered Confederate forces more than two-to-one, Union forces were undersupplied when they faced a 3,500-man Rebel cavalry force led by Nathan Bedford Forrest, and were forced to make a hasty retreat. According to The Union Army, Volume 3 (Federal Publishing Company, 1908): “Returning to the field the [9th Illinois Cavalry] formed a portion of the rear-guard on the retreat from Guntown, Miss., losing 5 killed, 23 wounded and 12 captured out of 160 men.” In all, more than 200 Union soldiers were killed that day, another 400 wounded, and more than 1,600 were captured, though not Manning.
Federal forces got a second chance at Forrest’s cavalry a month later at the Battle of Tupelo. The Confederates had established a base near Tupelo after the earlier battle, but on July 14, a blistering hot day, the Rebels met a 16,000-man Union force, including 1,900 Black soldiers of the USCT, at an open field along Old Town Creek. According to Confederate Colonel Ed Crossland, “The action on the 14th was the most severe and destructive ever encountered by the troops of this brigade, who are veterans in the service. Their loss was unprecedented.”
The Union victory came at a price. General Andrew Smith later reflected, “My troops were so exhausted with the heat, fatigue, and short rations that it was not possible to press them farther,” so most regiments returned to Memphis. However, it remained a significant Union triumph; the battle secured the Union supply lines to Georgia during the Siege of Atlanta.
In the fall, Manning took ill and was sent to a regimental hospital in Memphis. He was transferred on November 20, 1864, to the post hospital in Cairo, Illinois, with “intermittent fever”—likely malaria. He had not gotten better by the spring, so on May 30, 1865, he was discharged for disability and returned to Rockton. He was still owed $140 of his promised $300 bounty/bonus for signing up.
Cairo, Illinois in 1863. The army’s post hospital is on the lower right.
Charles Dewey Manning rejoined his father’s saddle-making business, then for two years starting in 1870 he attended Illinois Soldiers’ College in Fulton. On September 4, 1871, he married Marietta “May” Eva Kinne, our 3rd cousin 4x removed on the Dudley/Stewart branch. He was 23; she was 20. They would have six children together: Olive Jane (1872), Lizzie Delight (1874), George Francis (1877), Charles Captain (1881), Robert Valentine (1884), and Leo Roy (1890). Only Olive, Charles, and Leo would live to adulthood.
The 1880 Census shows the Manning family had moved to nearby Rockford, where Charles worked at a paper mill. Then in 1882 they move west to Rock Rapids, Iowa, where they farmed. Charles served on the school board and was elected the Lyons County treasurer and assessor. By coincidence, Teresa (Messner) Pohlen’s great-grandparents, Louis & Anna (Maurer) Messner, and their young family were living eight miles west of Rock Rapids at the same time.
But the Mannings didn’t stay long. In 1894 they moved again, this time to Pasadena, California, where Charles took up ranching. In 1907 he was elected the Los Angeles County Supervisor for the First District, and was re-elected for a second four-year term in 1911. (Interestingly, two other soldiers from his old Civil War regiment also went on to major political careers; Albinus Roberts Nance, a private in Company H, was elected Nebraska Governor in 1879, and Samuel Rinnah Van Sant, a private in Company A, served as Minnesota Governor from 1901 to 1905.)
The Mannings moved away to the Imperial Valley near Holtville in 1915, where again Charles ranched and served as an officer on the Imperial Valley Irrigation District board. They returned to the Pasadena area—Altadena—around 1925.
Charles & May Manning on their Golden Anniversary, 1921.
Five years later on January 18, 1930, Charles Dewey Manning passed away. According to his obituary in the Pasadena Post, January 20, 1930:
Taps Sound for Veteran
Captain Charles D. Manning Dies After
Long Career as Southland Leader
Funeral services for Captain Charles D. Manning, 82, who died Saturday at his home, 1236 Mar Vista, Altadena, will be held Tuesday afternoon at the Turner & Stevens chapel. Members of the Grand Army and Dr. George B. Cliff will conduct services.
Civil War Hero
Captain Manning was born in Bowmanville, [Durham, Ontario, Canada], October 24, 1847. While only a youth he moved to Illinois and served with the 9th [Illinois] Cavalry during the Civil War.
Many public offices were held by Captain Manning. He was assessor and treasurer at Lyon County, Ia., before coming to California 36 years ago [in 1894]. Here he served [eight years] as member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. He was also elected an officer at the Imperial Valley Irrigation District.
Active For Post
Captain Manning was a thirty-second degree Mason, and was affiliated with John Godfrey Post [No. 93], G.A.R. He also was prominent in the First Methodist Episcopal Church.
Surviving him are his widow, Mrs. May E. Manning; a daughter, Mrs. Olive H. Aldrich of Balboa; two sons, Charles C., of Pasadena and Leo R., of El Monte; a sister, Mrs. Mary D. Sheppard of Vermillion, S.D., five great grandchildren and eight grandchildren.
Manning was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena. Six years later, 85-year-old May (Kinne) Manning died and was buried beside him.
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