In honor of Black History Month: Dr. Alexander Thomas Augusta, first Black surgeon in Civil War

Dr. Alexander Thomas Augusta faced many challenges being the first Black surgeon commissioned in the Union Army during the Civil War.  He was eventually recognized for his merits and was the first Black officer-rank soldier to be buried at Arlington Cemetery. 

Despite being named senior surgeon at Camp Stanton in Maryland in February 1864, during the Civil War, Augusta still faced racism from medical colleagues he worked with helping soldiers during the war, according to Dr. Heather Butts, a Harvard alumnus who studied public health.  Butts is the Director of the Honors College at Long Island University, Brookville, New York, and wrote the book "African American Medicine in Washington, D.C.: Healing the Capital During the Civil War Era," which depicted the surgeon’s life. 

 "Some of the white surgeons that reported to Augusta wrote to President Lincoln informing him of their displeasure at having to report to Augusta. They requested ‘most respectfully yet earnestly’ that this ‘unexpected, unusual and most unpleasant relationship in which we have been placed’ come to an end." Their letter also stated: