“…to be in a position where I can be of use to my race.”
On January 1, 1863, as the American Civil War approached its third year, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation declaring "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are and henceforward shall be free."
Although it proclaimed “emancipation” it did not free enslaved people throughout the country, only those in rebellion states that had seceded from the United States. Lincoln also declared “that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.” With the inclusion of these words, the formation of the United States Colored Troops was launched.
The United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.) numbering nearly 200,000 Black soldiers made a significant contribution to the victory of the Union Army during the American Civil War. After hearing of the intention of the U.S. to begin forming Black regiments to fight in the war, Alexander T. Augusta wrote letters to President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton requesting “an appointment as a surgeon to some of the coloured regiments, or as physician to some of the depots of ‘freedmen.’” Although he had moved to Canada to secure an education as a physician after being rejected by medical schools in the United States, he was eager to join in the fight for freedom in his homeland where he could be in a position to “be of use” to his race.
It is not surprising that his application was met with confusion and resistance. Those in a position to accept his application recommended that his application be rejected on account of his color and his supposed Canadian citizenship. Despite this recommendation, Secretary of War Stanton directed the Army Medical Board to examine Augusta. He passed his exam and was appointed surgeon with the rank of Major in April 1863 becoming the first Black medical military officer to receive a commission in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to Contraband Hospital in Washington, D.C. as its first Black surgeon-in-charge. Contraband Camp and Hospital had been established in 1862 to accommodate the large numbers of formerly enslaved people who were coming into Washington to escape enslavement after the District of Columbia’s Emancipation Act was enacted in April 1862 freeing all enslaved persons in the district. The camp provided shelter and care to thousands of people and by the end of 1863, they had processed over 15,000 individuals and had 685 residents.
Alexander T. Augusta’s appointment to Contraband Hospital made him the first African American to direct a hospital in the United States. Six other Black surgeons would serve at the hospital during the war including two that would direct the hospital as its surgeon-in-charge. Augusta remained at Contraband Hospital until November 1863 when he was appointed Surgeon of the 7th Infantry of the U.S.C.T. Major Augusta would go on to receive the brevetted rank of Lieutenant Colonel for his meritorious service during the war.
You can learn more about Augusta and the thirteen other Black Civil War surgeons who served during the American Civil War in Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons, available at a bookstore near you or from Southern Illinois University Press.
© Jill L. Newmark, 2025
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