 In June 1864, on the recommendation of every officer in the regiment, he was appointed by Surgeon-General Quackenbush and New York Governor Horatio Seymour, surgeon in charge of the regiment, with the rank of major.Soon after he was appointed one of the surgeons of the First Division Hospital, Second Army Corps, and placed in charge of an operating table.Here he gained his first actual experience in operative surgery that was henceforth to be his specialty.