The synthesis of cation-substituted ID manganese oxide nanowires is achieved via a non-hydrothermal oxidation reaction using a solid-state precursor and conventional glassware. By changing the reaction conditions and precursor composition, it is possible to control the crystal structure and chemical composition of the resulting 1D nanostructured materials. The nanowires are found to exhibit promising electrochemical properties as cathode materials in lithium secondary batteries; moreover, the electrochemical properties of the nanowires can be improved by the partial replacement of Mn with Cr3+ cations. The measurements strongly suggest that the cation composition of the nanostructured metal oxides is very important for optimizing their electrode performance. The non-hydrothermal solution synthesis method presented here provides an effective composition-tailored approach for the fabrication of large quantities of 1D manganese oxide nanowires.