183. N.Y. SURGEON BEFORE GETTYSBURG Fine content war-date A.L.S. from Surgeon Henry van Aernam of the 154th N.Y. Volunteers, 4pp. 8vo., "Emmetsburg, Md.", June 30, 1863 in pencil to his sister. In part: "...We left our camp on South Mountain...making the distance of 36 miles in little over a day...General Hooker is relieved from the command of the Army of the Potomac, and General Meade takes his place. I think such a change in the very face of the enemy very injurious to the service...What General Hooker's faults were that caused his removal I know not, but one thing is certain...he very much improved the discipline and morale of the army, and very essentially improved the 'outer man'...This whole country is covered by encampments this morning, the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 11th and 12th Corps are here, and the 2nd and 6th are going up by way of Harpers Ferry. I understand the position of things to be: The Rebs in the Cumberland Valley - General Couch in their front - the 2nd and 6th Corps in their rear...If General Lee gets back to 'old Virginia' again with an army with banners, the Southern Confederacy should be prolonged...If Grant succeeds at Vicksburg & Lee is wiped out here - all the great fighting [is] done - & both these results may reasonably be expected...It is raining again this morning. When it holds up a little we shall move on to Gettysburg, Pa. which is only nine miles distance from here...". Heavily dampstained and toned, still largely entirely legible, with transcript. The 154th suffered enormous losses at Chancellorsville, and would again be hammered at Gettysburg on the first and second day. Van Aerman survived the war to serve four terms as a Congressman and later served as Grant's Commissioner of Pensions. Sold with a variety of interesting documents pertaining to van Aernam's post-war service to his fellow veterans. Includes an 1871 letter from the Lynn, Mass. Medical Society praising the physician's stand against "certain Homeopathic and other irregular practitioners of medicine" and his efforts "in removing certain Medical Examiners from office on the ground of their not being regular physicians..."; a similar supporting resolution from the Suffolk District Medical Society, Feb. 25, 1871; an 1894 letter from an attorney offering his services to van Aernam to help him secure his military pension; van Aernam's 1854 "Physician's Visiting List", a diary-like book, leather-bound, his accounts with various patients along with a very interesting printed listing of suggested fees to be charged for various procedures; and an extravagant leatherbound autograph album with calligraphic title page, presented to van Aernam upon his retirement as Commissioner of Pensions, signed by dozens of pension examiners from around the country. A fine, historic letter and a great archive following the writer's career. $600 - 700