Henry Augustus Du Bois, Jr.

Son of a very wealthy physician and merchant, in 1860 he was a medical student living with his parents and siblings in New Haven, CT. On 25 April 1861 he enlisted as Hospital Steward of the 12th New York State National Guard, but took the examination for United States Army medical service shortly after and was commissioned Assistant Surgeon, US Army to date from 26 August 1861. He was assigned duty at the Columbian Hospital in Washington, DC then served with the 6th United States Cavalry as Inspector of Cavalry. In May 1862 was assigned to the Army of the Potomac.

He was attached to the 6th Army Corps in Maryland.

The battle of Crampton's Gap took place also on the 14th [September 1862], at the same time that of South Mountain was in progress. The hospitals for the wounded were located in Burkittsville, about a mile in the rear of our troops ... A sufficient number of surgeons were detailed by Surgeon White, U.S. Army, the medical director of the Sixth Corps (which was the only corps engaged), who had charge of the medical department in this action. There was but short time given to prepare hospitals in either of these villages, as the troops left Frederick and fought both battles the same day. By the exertions of the medical officers in charge, the hospitals in Burkittsville were in a short time put in good order, and every care taken of the men brought to them. The surgeon who was placed in charge, having been guilty of improper conduct, was displaced and afterward dropped from the rolls, and Assistant Surgeon Du Bois placed in charge, under whose administration everything went on well.

He was assigned as Medical Inspector to the Artillery Reserve to early 1864, then Inspector of Hospitals, Army of the Potomac. He was attached to General P. Sheridan's staff in June 1864 and served with him to the end of the war. He was honored by brevets to Captain and Major to date from 13 March 1865 for his war service.

He continued in the Regular Army and served in the West until resigning on 1 April 1868. He then settled in San Rafael, CA and by 1870 was practicing medicine there with Dr. Alfred Taliaferro. In the late 1870s he built the Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery which was dedicated in 1879. He later developed real estate in Denver, CO and continued to practice medicine in San Rafael to his death of typhoid fever in 1897.

His service basics from Heitman.1 The quote above from Medical Director Letterman's after-action report. Personal details from family genealogists, notably J.S. Du Bois, and the US Census of 1860 & 1870. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His picture from a photograph of unknown provenance posted to the FamilySearch database.

He married Emily Maria Blois (1851-1910) in December 1880 and they had 5 children.

06/26/1840; New York City, NY

05/26/1897; San Rafael, CA; burial in Mount Tamalpais Cemetery, San Rafael, CA