Several surgeons of Black regiments write to Lincoln complaining about having to serve under a Black officer, Surgeon Alexander Augusta
J.B. McPherson et. al. to Lincoln protesting the assignment of Surgeon Alexander Augusta. Claim their commitment to "bettering" Black Americans but assert that it is beneath their dignity to serve with him as their superior officer. A subsequent letter from one of them, Asst. Surgeon Joel Morse of the 7th USCT, implores Senator John Sherman "to right this wrong, which to my mind is grave, unjust, and humiliating."