Robert Knox Sneden Chronology

Time Period
1825 to 1860
1861 to 1876
1877 to 1924
1925 to Today
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