Christopher C. Augur

Christopher Columbus Augur (July 10, 1821 – January 16, 1898) was an American military officer, most noted for his role in the American Civil War. Although less well known than other Union commanders, he was nonetheless considered an able battlefield commander.

Early life
Augur was born in Kendall, New York. He moved with his family to Michigan and entered West Point in 1839. Following his graduation in 1843, Augur served as aide-de-camp to Generals Hopping and Cushing during the Mexican-American War, and during the 1850s took an active part in the campaigns of the western frontier against the Yakima and Rogue River tribes of Washington and, in 1856, against the Oregon Indians. In Oregon, he was responsible for building Fort Hoskins in Kings Valley.

Civil War
Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Augur served as commandant of cadets at West Point. Appointed brigadier general of volunteers in 1861, he commanded a brigade under Irvin McDowell during the early part of the war. He was severely wounded at Cedar Mountain in August 1862 while leading a division under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks. He was appointed major general by President Abraham Lincoln on November 14, 1862, to rank from August 9, 1862. President Lincoln had to submit the nomination three times before the U.S. Senate finally confirmed the appointment on March 10, 1863. Subsequently Augur commanded a division in the Army of the Gulf during the siege of Port Hudson. He commanded the XXII Corps and the Department of Washington (1863–66), ending the war with an exemplary record.

Postbellum career
Following the war, Augur also would command the departments of the Platte (1867–71), of Texas (1871–75), and of the Gulf (1875–78). He also played a major role in negotiations of the Treaties of Medicine Lodge in 1867 and Fort Laramie in 1868. A fort in the Wyoming Territory was briefly named Fort Augur in his honor. In 1885, he retired from the Army with the rank of brigadier general.

He was a member of the Aztec Club of 1847, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States and the Military Order of Foreign Wars.

General Auger died in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.