- Aug 1 Edward Francis Fitzwilliam, English composer, born in Deal, Kent, England (d. 1857)
- Aug 3 William Burnham Woods, American politician, judge, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Newark, Ohio (d. 1887)
- Aug 8 Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse), Tsarina of Russia (d. 1880)
- Aug 9 Simon Goodell Griffin, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Newark, Ohio (d. 1887)
- Aug 14 William Terry, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Amherst County, Virginia (d. 1888)
- Aug 19 Georg Goltermann, German cellist and composer, born in Hanover, Germany (d. 1898)
- Aug 20 Absalom Baird, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Rockland, Maine (d. 1905)
- Aug 21 John Sanford Mason, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Steubenville, Ohio (d. 1897)
- Aug 27 Hiram Gregory Berry, American politician and Major General (Union Army), born in Thomaston, Main (d. 1863)
- Aug 28 Carel van Nispen of Sevenaer, Dutch Catholic politician, born in Zevenaar, Netherlands (d. 1884)