Abel Delos Streight | |
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Abel D. Streight
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Born |
Wheeler, New York |
June 17, 1828
Died | May 27, 1892 Indianapolis, Indiana |
(aged 63)
Place of burial | Crown Hill Cemetery |
Allegiance |
United States of America Union |
Service/branch |
United States Army Union Army |
Years of service | 1861 - 1865 |
Rank | brevet Brigadier General |
Commands held | 51st Indiana Infantry |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Abel Delos Streight (June 17, 1828 – May 27, 1892) was a peace time lumber merchant and publisher, and was a Union Army general in the American Civil War. His command precipitated a notable cavalry raid in 1863, known as Streight's Raid. He later was a politician, and served as a State Senator in Indiana, for two terms.
Abel Streight was born in Wheeler, New York, son of Asa Streight and Lydia Spaulding Streight. On 14 Jan 1849 he married Lavina or Lovina McCarty, who was born 1830, Bath Twp., Steuben Co., NY and died 5 Jun 1910, Marion Co., IN. He moved to Cincinnati, as a young man, and by 1859 was living in Indianapolis, where he was a publisher of books and maps.
Streight was appointed colonel of the 51st Indiana Infantry regiment on December 12, 1861. His regiment was soon attached to the Union Army of the Cumberland.
Streight and his regiment saw very limited action during the first two years of their service, which is said to have disappointed him greatly.
In 1863, he proposed a plan to Brig. Gen. James A. Garfield (chief of staff of the Army of the Cumberland) that he be allowed to raise a force to make a raid deeply into the South. His proposal was to disrupt the Western & Atlantic Railroad from Chattanooga to Atlanta, which carried supplies to the Confederate Army of Tennessee. The Union Army's commander, William S. Rosecrans, gave him permission.