September
3, 1862
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Fine
day and quite warm. All were up by sunrise, cooking breakfast, smoking
and cleaning up arms, saddles, [and] bridles. General Heintzelman
went off at 10 a.m. to see General Pope at Alexandria, and with
him went to see [General Henry] Halleck at the war department at
Washington. . . . I made a careful sketch of these headquarters
this forenoon and by the maps got all necessary information from
our staff and cavalry officers who visited us today relative to
the last movements of this army and began a plan of battle of Chantilly
for the general. I had made myself a drawing board of large size
from part of a walnut door which I took from the large white house
nearby on King Street. . . . Our men had demolished the furniture
and had broken or carried off everything of value. . . . I worked
by the light of four candles which were stuck into bayonets and
then stuck into the drawing board. . . . General Pope resigned his
command of the army this evening. . . .
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Sneden would spend no more time in the field for the next thirteen months.
The Union army, again under the command of George McClellan, pursued Lee
into Maryland and ultimately fought a brutal stalemate battle at Antietam
Creek on September 17. But Heintzelman's corps, depleted by weeks of almost
continuous fighting, was held back to man the fortifications of Washington.
Then in mid-October, Heintzelman was relieved from command of the III
Corps by McClellan, part of a wholesale removal of high-ranking officers
in the Army of the Potomac.
Heintzelman was immediately appointed commander of the military district
of Washington, supervising all of the fortifications surrounding the capital.
With this new assignment, the general took most of his staff with him,
including Sneden. Life as a soldier improved dramatically. Although he
still spent long hours making maps, Sneden prepared them in the comfort
of the indoors, first at headquarters in Alexandria, then at Robert E.
Lee's home, Arlington, and eventually at a large office in Washington.
He enjoyed reading many of the books in Lee's library and drawing a copy
of the Custis family genealogy that hung on the wall. He spent evenings
in the theater, at concerts, and on one occasion Barnum's circus. He frequently
played tourist, taking detailed notes of trips to see government buildings,
the White House, the murals in the unfinished capitol dome, and "the ugly
looking Washington monument." Hastily prepared rations in the field were
replaced by elegant meals in some of the city's finest restaurants or
by sumptuous dinners at headquarters often attended by the wives of officers.
When the weather was fair, he noted that "baseball matches and cricket
are now played every day by the department clerks on the grounds back
of the White House. Large crowds of ladies, citizens, and [soldiers] attend.
A tent is pitched wherein refreshments are served after the games close."
He frequented hotel bars, but he especially enjoyed the club near his
headquarters in town, which he wrote"is very gay with song, speech, and
the large punch bowl is well patronized."
While life was good, Sneden could not escape observing the realities of
a hard war. He commented on the large number of former slaves who had
crowded into the nation's capital to escape not only bondage but also
the brutality of life in war-torn Virginia. On occasion he talked to some
of them. According to Sneden, some of General Lee's former slaves said
"that Lee was a hard taskmaster." Nevertheless, like many of his fellow
northern whites, Sneden showed little sympathy for these African Americans.
Of greater concern was the outcome of battles fought by the Army of the
Potomac and the fate of his comrades in the field. He listened anxiously
for news from Fredericksburg in December and Chancellorsville in May,
only to be disappointed each time. In early July 1863, when Lee again
invaded the north and ran into the Union army at Gettysburg, Sneden reported
that "great excitement prevails in the city. Troops were marching through
all of last night. Orderlies with clanking sabers were galloping through
the streets. . . . all manners of rumors were circulating at the hotels."
A few days later he exclaimed "the battle of Gettysburg has been fought
and a glorious victory has been gained for the Union. . . . the crisis
is over." He then noted that "the forces here are prepared for anything
and eager for battle."
By early Fall, 1863, Sneden was ready for a new assignment in the field.
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