Eye of the Storm: A Civil War Odyssey

This book is remarkable and different from almost any other war remembrance I have come across. Not only has Robert Knox Sneden penned a highly descriptive account of his years with the Army of the Potomac and as a prisoner of war, his work is illustrated with scores of his own watercolors depicting what he saw -- many made at the time he was witnessing places and events during the war.Sneden had an unusual vantage point. An engineer and draftsman, Sneden's services were employed as a map maker for several Union Generals during the first two and a half years of the war. Although a private, this posting gave him an easier life than experienced by most privates. Although in the field, Sneden was attached to headquarters. His staff position and duties also gave him considerable free time -- from which we benefit. Sneden used this time to record his observations in both written form and via sketches and watercolor renderings of war scenes.Sneden's posting was not without difficulty or danger. Several times he had to reconnoiter close to the enemy or between the lines in order gather the information needed for accurate local maps. He was also asked to journey over recently fought over battlefields to aid in the construction of after-action reports -- after the Union army had left and local control had reverted to Confederate partisans.On one such journey away from the main army, Sneden and a few of his companions were captured by Mosby's Rangers. Sneden then began his journey through the Confederate prisoner of war system staying in Richmond, Andersonville and several other locations.His experiences are well written. Sneden has a very matter of fact style of writing that gets to the point and is descriptive without being overwrought. Having read "Company Ayche" by Sam Watkins and "All for the Union" by Elisha Hunt Rhodes, I would rank Sneden's work as highly among Civil War remembrances. His unique position enables him to comment on battlefield and camp experiences in all their gritty detail as well as those portions of the Union high command with whom he came in contact. His prisoner of war writing reveals the brutal realities of life at Andersonville and other locations. The raw and inhumane world of these men is given testamony by Sneden in his gripping account of what he and others bore.The artwork illustrates the text well. Although probably considered somewhat rough strictly as art, it is poignant and captivating. His original maps are also fascinating as historical documents.This is a very good book. The war and prison scenes are engaging and very interesting. The author's style is highly readible and very convincing in terms of giving a front line view of army and prison life. The plentiful contemporary illustrations makes this book a stand out among the genre.

I've read all of the standards--Catton, Foote, McPhearson, Freeman, etc. I've read some first hand journals as well, such as Grant's memoirs, Mary Chestnut, Jefferson Davis, etc. What I haven't ever encountered before is someone who has both the enlisted man's take on the penninsular campaign and Andersonville with the access to the generals Sneden seems to have had. In one paragraph he's getting dragged through the mud hanging from the back of a wagin, and then in the next he's privy to a meeting between Hooker, Kearny, and Heintzelman.The journal from inside Andersonville is priceless by itself! But there's also the Penninsular Campaign and the early part of the war. Then add to this Sneden's watercolors and you have a unique source that brings the day-to-day activities of the Civil War home like no other book I've ever read.Buy this book, it's one of the best ground-level views of the Civil War I've ever encountered.

Private Robert Sneden of the 40th New York Volunteers was trained in architecture and engineering and assigned to make detailed maps of the unknown terrain being traversed by the Union Army. This assignment gave him unusual freedom to roam the areas and battlefields to which he was assigned. Fortunately he kept a daily journal and made well drawn sketches and watercolor paintings as he went. The book covers the period from September 29, 1861, shortly after he joined McClellan's army encamped at Leesburg, Virginia, to December 26, 1864, when he was finally reunited with his family. With an artist's eye for detail and a surprisingly deft ability with the English language, Sneden provides the reader with some of the most memorable descriptions, watercolor colors of scenes, and eyewitness accounts ever published on the Civil War. Sneden's experiences can broadly be divided into two major periods.The first general section of his journal concerns the events connected with McClellan's move toward the botched siege of Yorktown, Virginia, and ends with the bloody battles of the 7 Day's War in which Lee attacked the Union forces at Mechanicsville and forced the ensuing retreat. Sneden's almost matter-of-fact descriptions of the fighting, confusion, carnage, small unit movements, individual heroism, death, and destruction are powerful and moving.The second general section of Sneden's journal concerns the events leading up to his capture by Mosby's Confederate cavalry, his internment first in Richmond and finally at the infamous Andersonville, and his eventual release and reunion with his family. No brief review could possibly do justice to the descriptions of the inhumanity displayed at these prison facilities. Sneden's accounts are strong, detailed, and painful to read.I highly recommend this book. It is a book which belongs in the collection of anyone interested in United States history and the Civil War in particular.

After discovering this book under my Christmas tree imagine my interest in the discovery of the story of Private Sneden in this volume. This first hand account of the war was far and away better than anything I've read so far including Sam Watkins 'Co. Aytch'. The added bonus of Sneden's watercolors make this book an invaluable source for anyone interested in the war and a fascinating revelation of it. Highly recommended!

"What makes Sneden's history remarkable is his attention to detail... So compelling was his drive to document the war accurately that Sneden kept notes even while in Andersonville, writing in shorthand on scraps of pages of books that he later sewed into the linings of his cloths to keep hidden.... It is astonishing that such valuable experience could have remained hidden for so long." --Michael Larkin, The Boston Globe"This is quite simply a wonderful book.... One can virtually hear the soldiers snoring and the mules braying.... Especially moving is [Sneden's] account of the horrible months he spent in Andersonville.... Sneden's all-observing eye was truly `in the storm,' and his belatedly published memoir should soon become a standard in the field." --Ben L. Bassham, Civil War Book Review