Robert Knox Sneden Chronology

Time Period

1825 to 1861

1861 to 1876

1876 to 1924

1924 to Present

Topics

Art & Architecture

Civil War

Military History

1832	June 3	born in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, British provinces of America
1851		family moves to New York
1858		earliest known date on a Sneden watercolor, "Sneden’s Landing, opposite Dobb’s Ferry, Hudson River, N.Y."
1861	June 14	informal job with 40th N.Y. (“Mozart”) Regiment as assistant quartermaster
	August 29	arrives at “Camp Sackett” on Leesburg Turnpike in northern Virginia where 40th N.Y. is camped; joins as a private
1862	Jan 10	transferred from the 40th N.Y. to act as topographical engineer on General Samuel P. Heintzelman’s staff at Fort Lyon, Virginia
	March 21	with Heintzelman’s staff, boards steamship for Hampton, Virginia, beginning of Peninsula Campaign
	Apr-July	participates in Peninsula campaign and Seven Days battles
	July	with the Army of the Potomac at Harrison’s Landing
	Aug	participates in Second Bull Run campaign
	Oct	on Heinzelman’s staff headquartered at Arlington House
	Dec 10	moves from Arlington House to 15th St and Pennsylvania Avenue when Heintzelman is appointed to command the defenses of Washington
1863	Aug 25	tires of his work at headquarters in Washington; assigned as map maker on. staff of General D. B. Birney and then on staff of General William French, Third Corps, Army of the Potomac
	Oct 8	leaves Washington, D.C., to rejoin Third Corps near Brandy Station, Va.
	Nov 18	at Miller’s House, near Brandy Station, HQ of General French, Third Corps; when he learns the Mine Run campaign is about to begin, he mails his diaries and drawings home to New York
	Nov 27	captured by John Singleton Mosby’s men at Brandy Station, Virginia
	Nov 30	arrives on prison train in Richmond, Va. incarcerated in Crew & Pemberton prison, a converted tobacco warehouse
1864	Jan 15	attempted escape from prison
	Feb 22	put on prison train at Richmond and shipped south
	Feb 24	arrives at Salisbury, North Carolina, prison camp
	Feb 28	arrives at Andersonville, Georgia, prison camp
	July 3	witnesses battle between inmates and raiders in Andersonville
	July 11	witnesses execution of raiders in the stockade
	Sept 16	leaves Andersonville for Savannah prison camp
	Nov 12	signs parole at Camp Lawton, Georgia, prison camp to work for Surgeon Isaiah White C.S.A.
	Nov 23	arrives in Savannah. Surgeon White gives him a pass and allows him to board at Pulaski Hotel
	Dec 3	leaves Charleston on train for Florence, South Carolina, prison camp still on parole to Surgeon White
	Dec 11	is exchanged and boards USS Varuna sailing for Annapolis, Maryland
	Dec 17	Varuna arrives at Annapolis, Maryland
	Dec 26	arrives home in New York
1865	Jan 30	musters out of 40th N.Y. "Mozart" Regiment
	winter	begins years work for architect William B. Olmsted, 50 Wall St.
1877		moves to Greenwich, Conn., later to Monsey, Rockland Co., N.Y.
1884	Dec 10	Sneden applies for a pension
1884-87		Century Magazine’s serial on Civil War (Nov. 1884 to Nov. 1887) includes one engraving based on a Sneden watercolor; book form of the series, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, includes several dozens engravings based on Sneden watercolors.
1904	Jun 22	enters N.Y. State Soldiers & Sailors Home, Bath, Steuben County, N.Y.
1918	Sept 18	dies at Soldiers & Sailors Home, Bath, age 86; buried at national cemetery, Bath, N.Y. section J, row 11, grave 14.
1994		Virginia Historical Society acquires Sneden scrapbook albums
1997-98		Virginia Historical Society acquires Sneden memoir albums