Item No. 6747947

An 1862 letter of resignation written by John Guy McCandless, the assistant surgeon of the 52nd Pennsylvania Volunteers. He writes to Captain Charles C. Suydam, adjutant to General Erasmus Keyes, commander of the Army of the Potomac’s 4th Army Corps, that the resignation is necessary “on account of my failing ill health” and “knowing that I will be unable to do my duty to my regiment.”

The back page includes endorsements and signatures from several 4th Corps officers:

• July 15 - “Approved and respectfully submitted,” signed by Colonel John C. Dodge, Jr., commanding the 52nd Pennsylvania.

• Undated - “Approved. I recommend the resignation not taking effect until Asst. Surgeon McCandless is relieved from duty by a new appointment,” signed by Surgeon Oliver A. Judson as the senior surgeon in the division.

• Undated - “I concur with Brig. Surgeon Judson,” signed by Brigadier General John J. Peck, commanding the 2nd Division.

• Undated - “Approved, with a recommendation that the resignation do not take effect until asst. surgn. is relieved from duty by a new appointment,” signed by Surgeon Frank Hasting Hamilton, the medical director of the 4th Corps. Hamilton was a prominent New York surgeon whose specialty was in the treatment of gunshot wounds. He is credited as a co-founder of the Bellevue Hospital Medical College and other medical schools. Dr. Charles Leale, the first physician to treat Abraham Lincoln on the night of his assassination, was a pupil of Hamilton’s at Bellevue. Hamilton was later consulted after the shooting of President James Garfield in 1881.

• July 21 - Accepted and signed by Brigadier General Erasmus D. Keyes, commander of the 4th Corps.

By the fuzzy appearance of the ink used to write Captain Suydam’s at the beginning of McCandless’s letter, we suspect that it was traced over or added at a later date. The letter was written on the first page of a four-page letter sheet measuring about 5 1/4” x 8”. The middle pages are empty, with the endorsements appearing on the back page. Light toning. Creased at the original folds.

Camp near Harrison’s Landing
July 15th 1862

Capt. C. C. Suydam

Dr. Sir,
I feel constrained to tender my resignation as assistant Surgeon of the 52nd Regmt. Pa. Volunteers on account of my failing ill health. Knowing that I will be unable to do my duty to my regiment, I respectfully tender my resignation, & hoping its early acceptance.
I am Genl.
Yours Very Respectfully
J. G. McCandless
assistant Surgeon
52nd Regmt. P.V.