9th: Mason Streeter
| Mason Streeter | A Trooper of the 9th Michigan Cavalry |
| by Davis Elsner |
The Civil War saw men from both sides leave their homes and fight. Some went willingly, others were drafted. Some men and their units would go on to great fame, such as Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine. However, for most their service in their unit and their unit's service to their nation would go on unnoticed and underappreciated especially in modern times. While units like the 20th Maine are still recognized and remembered today and men like Joshua Chamberlain are remembered to this day, units like the 9th Michigan Cavalry and men like Mason Streeter are all but forgotten. Perhaps the 9th Michigan Cavalry never got to defend a place like Little Round Top, perhaps Mason Streeter never got to rise to the rank of General like Joshua Chamberlain did by the end of the war. However, Mason Streeter's and the 9th Michigan Cavalry's, and all the other units and men like them who never achieved glory, contributions to the Civil War are no less important.
Mason Streeter was born John Mason Streeter in Troy, New York on January 8, 1847. He was the only child of Alonzo Streeter and Maria A. Kingsbury. Sometime between 1847 and 1862 the Streeter family made it's way west from New York to Michigan. On March 14, 1863 Mason Streeter enlisted into the 9th Michigan Cavalry Regiment at Coldwater Michigan. Streeter lied about his age in order to enlist into the army. He said he was 18 while in truth he was only 16 at the time of his enlistment. He was assigned to Company I under the command of Captain Jonas H. McGowan.
The 9th Michigan Cavalry began its formation in 1862 in Coldwater Michigan under the command of Colonel James L. David. Colonel David was a native of Trenton, Michigan who had originally served as quartermaster for the 1st Michigan Cavalry. Streeter was one of the last men to enlist into the unit as the 9th Michigan Cavalry Regiment was officially mustered into the Union army on May 19, 1863; barely 2 months after Streeter volunteered.
The 9th then proceeded to perform patrolling operations in Kentucky and southern Ohio well into July. It was at this time that the 9th was assigned the role of helping hunt down General John Hunt Morgan and the 2400 Confederate Cavalry Troopers he led on a raid into the Ohio River Valley. On July 4th, the 9th Michigan Regiment encountered Morgan's Force at Lebanon, Kentucky. The engagement saw the 9th Michigan Cavalry join with the 20th Kentucky Infantry Regiment, 8th Michigan Cavalry Regiment, and 11th Battery, Michigan Artillery against Morgan whose force was scattered with 453 men captured by the Union forces. The 9th Michigan was only able to make the engagement by riding 50 miles a day. The Battle of Lebanon was the 9th's baptism by fire, which saw the unit sustain no battle casualties.
After the battle, the Regiment proceeded to Danville where it then split up into 3 units. Mason Streeter and Company I proceeded to Cincinnati and camped in Covington starting on July 16th along with Companies D, E, and H as well as a section of Battery L. The units of the 9th camped at Covington moved out on July 24th under the command of Major Way and by the night of the 25th had overtaken Morgan's force outside Stubenville which resulted in a night skirmish. The following morning, Morgan's forces and the 9th Michigan Cavalry along with other Union regiments entered battle. The result was a route of Morgan's force while the 9th sustained only 8 casualties. The 9th then continued pursuit of Morgan until finally Morgan surrendered to Union forces under the command of General Shackleford.
The 9th was then assigned to General Burnside's command during his invasion of Eastern Tennessee. They reached Knoxville, Tennessee on Sept 3. This had the effect of liberating the mostly unionist section of Eastern Tennessee and taking over control of part of the South's more vital railroad lines which ran from Richmond to Chattanooga.
In June of 1864 the 9th got its chance to shine and have its moment of battlefield glory. General Morgan had managed to get back to Confederate Forces and was now in charge of another Confederate Cavalry force in the area. On the 9th of June the 9th Michigan Cavalry received orders to hunt down Morgan On the 12th, Morgan's force was found fortified behind rail barricades near Cynthiana, Tennessee. Along with the 9th Michigan, the Union forces consisted of the 11th Michigan Cavalry and the 12 Ohio Cavalry. The 11th and 12th advanced on the Confederate position on foot. After the Confederate force became engaged with the advancing 11th and 12th, the 9th may a mounted charge on the Confederate left flank. The charge routed the Confederate force and saw the capture of 300 prisoners, 500 horses, and a large quantity of weapons.
In October of 1864 the 9th Michigan Cavalry was assigned to General Sherman's army and participated in all of his campaigns till the end of the war. During this time the 9th primarily scouted, foraged, performed picket duty, and participated in the general destruction of anything in its path that was a major part of Sherman's March to the Sea and his march up the Carolina's. During this time elements of the 9th Michigan Cavalry served as the personal escort for General Kilpatrick.
Mason Streeter survived the war without any major wounds, injuries, or sicknesses. He was mustered out with the rest of his unit and went home from Jackson, Michigan to Union City, Michigan. He would live out the rest of his life there. On May 27, 1869 Streeter married Elnora Buell in Union City. She had been born on July 27, 1852. They would have three children together. Their names were Louis Alonzo Streeter born on August 14, 1872, Jesse Clyde Streeter born on September 28, 1874, and Myrtie Caroline Streeter born on October 22, 1877. However, none of Mason Streeter's children would have much time to spend with their father as he died on December 5, 1877 in Union City, Michigan when his eldest child was only 5. He is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Michigan.
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