Alexander Thomas Augusta Alexander Thomas Augusta ( March 8 , 1825 – December 21 , 1890 ) was a surgeon , professor of medicine , and veteran of the American Civil War . In 1863 , he became the United States Army ' s first African - American physician and also the first black hospital administrator in U . S . history . Biography . Augusta was born to free African - American parents in Norfolk , Virginia . At that time he began to learn to read while working as a barber although it was illegal to do so in Virginia at that time . He moved to Baltimore while still in his youth . He also began pursuing an education in the field of medicine at that time . He married Baltimore native Mary O . Burgoin on January 12 , 1847 . Medical training . Augusta applied to study medicine at the University of Pennsylvania but was refused admission . Although he faced institutionalized racism in his career , inadequate preparation was cited . Nevertheless , he took private instruction from someone on the faculty . As he was determined to become a physician , Augusta travelled to California and earned the funds necessary to pursue his goal of becoming a doctor . Concerned that he would not be allowed to enroll in medical school in the U . S . , he enrolled at Trinity College of the University of Toronto in 1850 . He also conducted business as a druggist and chemist . Six years later he received a degree in medicine . Augusta remained in Toronto , Canada West , establishing his medical practice . The City of Toronto placed him in charge of Toronto General Hospital and later an industrial school . He supported local antislavery activities . He also founded the Provincial Association for the Education and Elevation of the Coloured People of Canada , a literary society that donated books and other school supplies to black children , as a way of giving back to the community . Augusta left Canada for the West Indies in about 1860 , returning to Baltimore at the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861 . Civil War service . Augusta went to Washington , D . C . , wrote Abraham Lincoln offering his services as a surgeon and was given a Presidential commission in the Union Army in October 1862 . On April 4 , 1863 , he received a major ' s commission as surgeon for African - American troops . This made him the United States Army ' s first African - American physician out of eight in the Union Army and its highest - ranking African - American officer at the time . Some whites disapproved of him having such a high rank and as such he was mobbed in Baltimore during May 1863 ( where three people were arrested for assault ) and in Washington for publicly wearing his officer ' s uniform . On October 2 , 1863 he was commissioned Regimental Surgeon of the Seventh U . S . Colored Troops . On February 1 , 1864 , Augusta wrote to Judge Advocate Captain C . W . Clippington about discrimination against African - American passengers on the streetcars ( most likely horse - drawn ) of Washington , D . C . : His letter was printed in New York and Washington newspapers . On February 10 , 1864 , Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner introduced a resolution in Congress : To support his resolution , Sumner read to the assemblage Dr . Augusta ' s letter . Edward Bates , the Attorney General in President Abraham Lincoln ' s cabinet , belittled the incident and senators who supported Sumner . Augusta wrote a letter of protest against the unfair treatment put upon African Americans who ride trains to Major General Lewis Wallace . That letter preceded Plessy vs Ferguson in attempting to eliminate racial segregation on transportation in the U . S . On March 13 , 1865 , he was brevetted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel . On February 26 , 1868 , Augusta testified before the United States congressional Committee on the District of Columbia with regard to Mrs . Kate Brown . Mrs . Brown , an employee of Congress , had been injured when an employee of the Alexandria , Washington , and Georgetown Railroad forcibly ejected her from a passenger car . The railroad was prohibited by its charter from discrimination against passenger because of race . Later years . Mustering out of the service in October 1866 , Augusta accepted an assignment with the Freedman ' s Bureau , heading the agency ' s Lincoln Hospital in Savannah , Georgia . While there , he encouraged African - American self - help , urged the freedmen to support independent institutions , and gained respect from the city ' s white physicians . Augusta returned to private practice in Washington , D . C . He was attending surgeon to the Smallpox Hospital in Washington in 1870 . He also served on the staff of the local Freedmen ' s Hospital and was placed in charge of the hospital in 1863 , becoming the first black hospital administrator in U . S . history . Augusta taught anatomy in the recently organized medical department at Howard University from November 8 , 1868 , to July 1877 , becoming the first African American appointed faculty of the school and also of any medical college in the U . S . He had received honorary degrees of M . D . in 1869 and A . M . in 1871 from Howard . Despite his accomplishments , Dr Augusta was repeatedly refused entry to the local society of physicians , an affront that he feared would impede the progress of younger African - American physicians in the city . He died in Washington on December 21 , 1890 , interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery he is buried in Section 1 , Lot 124A , map grid G / 33 .