Skip main navigation

Military Health System

Hurricane Milton & Hurricane Helene

Emergency procedures are in place in multiple states due to Hurricane Milton & Hurricane Helene. >>Learn More

Remembering Dr. Alexander Augusta, the U.S. Army’s First Black Doctor

Image of A photo of Maj. (Dr.) Alexander Augusta among the Seventh Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops where he served as regimental surgeon during the Civil War. . A photo of Maj. (Dr.) Alexander Augusta among the Seventh Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops where he served as regimental surgeon during the Civil War. (Photo: National Park Service)

Alexander Thomas Augusta was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1825. His parents were free African Americans. Growing up in Baltimore, he worked as a barber while he pursued his dream of attending medical school.

After earning his medical degree in Canada, Dr. Augusta offered his services to the U.S. military. In a letter to President Abraham Lincoln, he offered his services as a surgeon.

But Augusta was initially rejected due to his race. Nevertheless, he traveled to Washington, D.C., to plead his case and was finally accepted.

In April 1863, he passed the Army's medical examination and the Army commissioned him at the rank of major. He became a surgeon for African American troops, making him the Army's first African American doctor.

At the time, Augusta was the highest ranking African American officer. He served as the Regimental Surgeon of the Seventh U.S. Colored Troops. He was awarded a promotion to lieutenant colonel in March 1865.

Dr. Alexander Augusta was the first African American to be an Army doctor. Dr. Alexander Augusta was the first African American to be an Army doctor. (Photo: National Park Service)

During his extraordinary career, Augusta became America's first black hospital administrator, and the man responsible for the desegregation of train cars in Washington D.C.

In 1865, after the Civil War had ended, President Lincoln invited him to the White House. African Americans visiting the White House was very rare and the event was widely reported across the country.

Later in life, Augusta served as the head of the Lincoln Hospital in Savannah, Georgia. Later he was the attending surgeon to the Smallpox Hospital in Washington in 1870. And eventually he went on to teach anatomy at Howard University. He was the first African American faculty appointed to any medical college in the United States.

At the age of 65, Augusta died in Washington, D.C. He became the first black Army officer to be buried in the Arlington National Cemetery. Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Alexander T. Augusta's tomb can be found in Section 1, at Grave 124A.

You also may be interested in...

Article Around MHS
Jul 5, 2023

Medical Service Corps: 106 Years of Diverse Health Service

Soldiers assigned to 129th Area Support Medical Company and Forward Support MEDEVAC Platoon, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, conduct patient movement operations for aeromedical evacuation during a training in Slobozia, Romania, on June 1. This year marks 106 years of support from medical service corps officers. (Photo: U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Laura Torres)

Whether in everyday patient care, clinical research, or by performing the administrative tasks needed to run U.S. Army hospitals, medical service corps officers have provided health care to veterans, soldiers, and their families for 106 years.

Article Around MHS
Jun 12, 2023

Navy Medicine at D-Day: Stories of Valor and Sacrifice

Navy medical personnel help evacuate wounded soldiers at Normandy, June 1944. (Photo Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery)

On the morning of June 6, 1944, Navy physician Lt. (j.g.) Frank Ramsey, Jr., and Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Byron Dary landed on Omaha Beach with the 6th Naval Beach Battalion. Upon hitting the beach, the physician and hospital corpsman rushed to the aid of wounded U.S. Army personnel lying near a burning half-track. In minutes, the vehicle ...

Article Around MHS
May 19, 2023

Navy Medicine at War: Stories of Service and Sacrifice at the Battle of Coral Sea

Throughout the Battle of the Coral Sea, U.S. Navy medical personnel serving shipboard played important roles keeping sailors in the fight while providing life-saving medical care under the severest of conditions. (Courtesy Photo)

The Battle of the Coral Sea was fought primarily by carrier-based planes across this marginal sea off the northeast coast of Australia from May 4 to 8, 1942. Throughout the battle, U.S. Navy medical personnel serving shipboard played important roles keeping sailors in the fight while providing life-saving medical care under the severest of conditions. ...

Article Around MHS
Apr 10, 2023

American Medical Center in Europe to Celebrate 70 Years

U.S. soldiers, airmen and civilian staff at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center  provide care to U.S. service members and Afghan civilians who were injured in a series of attacks outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. (Photo by Marcy Sanchez, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center)

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center is slated to host a week-long celebration, open to all Department of Defense cardholders, marking 70 years of selfless service and military medicine in Germany, from April 11-14.

Article Around MHS
Mar 17, 2023

Navy Medical Corps 152nd Anniversary Celebrated at Navy Medical Readiness and Training Command Bremerton

As part of the tradition of recognizing the Navy Medical Corps 152nd anniversary, on May 3, congratulatory letters from Navy Medicine Dental Corps, Civilian Corps, Hospital Corps, Medical Service Corps and Nurse Corps directors were read by representatives of each distinct entity as was well-wishes by U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Guido Valdes, Medical Corps chief (Photo by Douglas H Stutz, NHB/NMRTC Bremerton public affairs officer)

It was on March 3, 1871, that 153 U.S. Navy physicians were officially recognized as a staff corps to parallel their professional status with other naval officers. That date was readily acknowledged 152 years later on March 3, 2023, at Navy Medicine Readiness Training Command Bremerton with an anniversary celebration for Navy Medical Corps officers ...

Skip subpage navigation
Refine your search
Last Updated: July 11, 2023
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on X Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery