Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Cemetery, People

Location

150 Quarry St, Cobleskill, NY 12043, USA

Lat/Long

42.6858095, -74.4888493

Grant Recipient

American Legion Post 57

George W. Snyder graduated first in his class from West Point in 1856, and served as a 1st Lieutenant during the Civil War for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He was at the bombardment of Fort Sumter and at the Battle of Manassas (First Bull Run). While superintending the construction of forts on the Potomac River he fell ill and died shortly thereafter of typhoid fever. Originally buried in the Snyder family cemetery, in 1912 his remains were removed and reburied at Cobleskill Rural Cemetery.

The November 22, 1861 edition of The New York Times includes Lieut. Snyder’s obituary, which further states:

He was one of that heroic band who defended Fort Sumter so gallantly against the fearful odds arrayed against them, and when the flag-staff was shot down, he was the officer who planted it on the ramparts…Zealous and unshrinking in the discharge of his duties, no matter how disagreeable they might be, he overtasked his body, and fell an easy prey to the fever which ended his career. His former comrades in arms mourn in him the loss of one of the brighest ornaments of their profession, and his country has lost the services of an upright, fearless and devoted officer.