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Civil War History 49.1 (2003) 84-85



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Images from the Storm: Private Robert Knox Sneden. Ed. Charles F. Bryan Jr., Nelson D. Lankford, and James C. Kelly. (New York: The Free Press, 2001. Pp. 263. $50>.00.)

The memoir of Pvt. Robert Knox Sneden was a literary and pictorial success when it was published as Eye of the Storm in 2000 by two staff members of the Virginia Historical Society. Charles Bryan and Nelson Lankford are joined by a third colleague, James Kelly, in this impressive sequel, which contains 300 of his illustrations, most in vibrant color. Readers will easily recognize why the emergence of Sneden's work is being hailed as a unique find.

Sneden enlisted in the 40th New York Volunteers in 1861. An artist by avocation, his sketches were noticed by an officer and he was detached to draw maps for Brig. Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman. The new cartographer served in the Peninsula campaign, where he made the majority of his sketches, and the Second Manassas campaign before being assigned to the Washington defenses. In autumn 1863 he was in the Bristoe campaign and was captured early in the Mine Run campaign. Stealth and ingenuity enabled him to continue his sketching, although in reduced quantity, while incarcerated in Richmond, Virginia; in Georgia at Andersonville, Savannah, and Millen; and in South Carolina at Florence and Charleston, where he was exchanged in December 1864.

Happily for posterity, Sneden left 5,000 pages of handwritten text and 900 watercolors and maps, which he meticulously compiled in postwar years, depicting his military service and other operations in the eastern theater. The editors explain their detective work in a stirring introduction and a useful chronology that summarize Sneden's life and his limited publication ventures, which included Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper and Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.

There are several characteristics that distinguish this fine new volume from its [End Page 84] antecedent. The first Sneden work was in memoir form with eighty-some watercolors sprinkled throughout. This new edition features the watercolors and sketches, supplemented with excerpts from the memoir and text by the editors. About forty of the images are repeated from Eye of the Storm, while about twenty others are slight variants. But this new volume is not redundant; there are seven times as many illustrations, reproduced in a larger 10" x 10" book, thereby enhancing their rich detail. Maps, landscapes, and battle and prison scenes predominate. The index has excellent cross-references to direct readers to subjects of interest.

One cautionary note is that neither Sneden's text nor the editors' remarks should always be taken literally. The editors did not correct all of Sneden's factual or spelling mistakes (e.g., at Yorktown it should be Wormley not Wormsley Creek; Cornwallis did not have his headquarters at the Nelson house nor did he meet with Washington at the Moore house; Antietam was September 17 not 19; the 51st New York and 51st Pennsylvania carried Burnside bridge, not the 51st New York and 57st Pennsylvania). The editors also made some errors themselves: for example, implying that the Confederates retreated from Yorktown on May 4 not 3, and that Chantilly was August 31 not September 1; by stating that Burnside bridge was heavily defended; by giving December 12-13 as the dates for Fredericksburg; and by citing Hooker, not Sumner, for launching the main assaults against Marye's Heights.

Despite these occasional blemishes, the editors' text is clear and concise, while their selections from Sneden's memoirs complement the illustrations nicely and enhance their value. The maps and illustrations have exquisite detail, and the editors made an excellent selection. Persons interested in the eastern theater of military operations and Sneden's places of imprisonment will find this a valuable resource. The Virginia Historical Society, which owns the Sneden collection, can be thanked for sharing it through publication.

 



David F. Riggs
Colonial National Historical Park, Yorktown

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