Photos by jcurtis55
"Streight's Raid"
This quest will bring you to the Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. Crown Hill is the third largest public cemetery in the United States with over 188,000 burials. There are several other caches in Crown Hill cemetery. It would be quite easy to spend a day here. The grounds open at 8:00AM an close at either 5:00 or 6:00PM, depending on the time of year. I would advise you check the Crown Hill web site if you plan on visiting late in the afternoon.
The posted coordinates will take you to a headstone for General Abel Streight, wife Luvina and his son John. General Streight is one of sixteen Civil War Generals buried at Crown Hill. You will need information from the headstone to calculate the coordinates for the final cache location. Here is the information you need:
General Streight year of death = ABCD
Lovina Streight year of death = EFGH
John Streight year of birth = IJKL
M = D + K
The final coordinates are N39 48.FBL W086 09.CMK
Abel D. Streight
Born in New York, Streight first moved to Cincinnati, but landed in Indianapolis in 1859. He was publishing books and maps when the Civil War started. He was then appointed Colonel in the Union Army and was given command of the 51st Indiana Infantry regiment. The 51st saw little action in the first couple of years of the war, which frustrated Streight. So Strieght became proactive and devised a plan in which he would command a raid into the south. His goal was to cut the Western and Atlantic railroad line, thereby disrupting the supply lines of the Confederate armies then in middle Tennessee. His plan was send to General James Garfield, and was ultimately approved by Major General William Rosecrans.
Streight was given command of 1700 men, made up of men from the 51st and 73rd Indiana regiments, the 80th Illinois and the 3rd Ohio. He requested mounts for his men, as any raiding party in enemy territory would need to be mobile and hit fast. The Army of the Cumberland must have been short of horses, as much to General Streight's dismay, he was provided with mules for his men.
The raiding party departed Nashville on April 7, 1863 and entered Alabama on April 26th. Initially, as the raid moved into Mississippi and then Alabama, a cavalry force under Grenville Dodge provided a screening force for the raiding party. However, this screens departed and on April 30th, Streight and his men were intercepted by famed Confederate Cavalry commander, Nathan Bedford Forrest. The initial attack of Forrest on the Union rear guard is known as the Battle of Day's Gap. The Union forces held off the Confederate attacks but after a few days of continual harrassment, Forrest managed to surround the hungry and exhausted raiders on May 3rd. After some brief negotiations the entire Union force surrendered. They were only about 20 miles from entering Georgia at the time.
After capture, the men were sent to Libby Prison in Richmond Virginia. The enlisted men were quickly exchanged for Confederate prisoners, but General Streight and the officers remained prisoners. After 10 months of imprisonment, a tunnel was completed and Streight, along with 107 men made their escape. Streight then successfully made his way to Washington DC. After returning to the Union Army Streight filed a report on his raid. The contents of the report are available on the internet, and books have also been written on the raid. In his report, Streight reported that it was believed that 15 officers and 130 enlisted me were casualties. He felt if General Dodge had held off the Confederate cavalry for another day his raid may have succeeded.
Streight would retire a brevit brigadier general in 1865, and he and his family built a house on Washington Street in Indianapolis in 1866. He would go on to serve two terms in the Indiana state senate, and had a failed run for Governor.
The cache container is A CAMOUFLAGED PEANUT BUTTER JAR.