Peyton Benjamin Gravely
Peyton Benjamin Gravely was born on May 15, 1835, in Henry County, Virginia, to Willis Gravely and Ann Barrow. His father was a tobacconist who owned $18,400 of real estate and $15,000 of personal property by 1860. Gravely grew up and attended school in Henry County, and by 1860, he was working as a trader.
 
He enlisted in the Confederate army on April 22, 1861, and he mustered in as a sergeant in Price’s Company, Virginia Light Artillery. The company reorganized during the winter of 1861-62, and he received a promotion to 1st lieutenant in Company F of the 42nd Virginia Infantry. The regiment took part in the Seven Days’ Battles, the Second Battle of Manassas, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Battle of Cold Harbor. He eventually received a promotion to captain. He was wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg and the Battle of the Wilderness.
 
He settled in Danville, Virginia, after the war, and he earned a living as a tobacco trader. He married Mary F. Walters on October 24, 1871, and they had at least five children: Kate, born around 1873; Peyton, born around 1876; James, born around 1878; Daisy, born around 1881; and Mary, born around 1885. A local writer described him as one of the “leading tobacco manufacturers of Danville.” He died in Woodstock, Virginia, on August 8, 1915.
2803
DATABASE CONTENT
(2803)Gravely, Peyton Benjamin1835-05-151915-08-08
  • Conflict Side: Confederacy
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Sergeant
  • Rank out: Captain
  • Rank highest: Captain
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 1

  • (3723) [writer] ~ Peyton B. Gravely to Susan McCabe, 6 December 1861

People - Records: 1

  • (2805) McCabe, Susan is the [sibling of] (2803) Gravely, Peyton Benjamin

Places - Records: 2

  • (3312) [birth] ~ Henry County, Virginia
  • (1179) [death] ~ Woodstock, Shenandoah County, Virginia

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Regiments - Records: 2

  • (839) [enlisted] ~ Price's Company, Virginia Light Artillery (Danville Artillery)
  • (1181) [officer] [F] ~ 42nd Virginia Infantry
SOURCES

1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, and 1910 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Military Service Records of Peyton B. Gravely, available from Fold3.com; Virginia Compiled Marriages, 1851-1900, available from Ancestry.com; Robert A. Brock, Virginia and Virginians: Eminent Virginians, Vol. II (Richmond, VA: H. H. Hardesty, 1888); Shenandoah Herald (Woodstock, VA), 20 August 1915