05-12-2023 MAW - Flipbook - Page 14
14 Baltimore Sun Media | Friday, May 12, 2023
A host of local dignitaries and representatives of the Hilton family officially unveil of the Sgt.
Alfred B. Hilton Memorial in David Craig Park in Havre de Grace on Nov.4, 2022.
MATT BUTTON/THE AEGIS PHOTOS
The group of descendants of Alfred B. Hilton gather on the stage.
Unveiled
from Page 9
against entrenched Confederate defenses
at Chapin’s Farm outside Richmond,
Virginia — a critical engagement during
the war, according to the foundation.
Hilton was wounded but continued to
advance, picking up the regimental standard from another fallen soldier and
carrying the national and regimental
flags forward until he was unable to go
farther.
Before he fell, he passed the flags to
others in his regiment and said “Boys,
save the colors!” He died of his wounds
in a segregated hospital in Hampton
Roads, Virginia, on Oct. 21, 1864, and is
now buried in the Hampton National
Cemetery, according to the foundation.
Hilton died around 22 years old, which
means he did not really get to fully experience life yet, Joi Hilton said. Many of
his descendants, such as Joi, have never
even got to see what he looked like
in a picture or in person, Hilton said.
However, he was posthumously awarded
the Medal of Honor.
About 180,000 Black Americans had
joined the fight by the end of the Civil
War, despite rampant discrimination and
earning lower wages than their white
counterparts, according to the Library of
Congress. It is estimated that a third of all
the African Americans who enlisted died.
“This county and community has
come together to never forget,” said
Maj. Gen. Robert L. Edmonson II. “Of
the 40 million Americans who served
in the armed forces since the civil war
only 3,520 have been awarded this medal
[the Medal of Honor]. Far less than one
percent, and during the civil war only 16
African Americans soldiers received the
medal of honor.”
“This type of stuff (a memorial ceremony) just doesn’t happen that often
Joi Hilton, a great- great- great-niece of Sgt. Alfred B. Hilton and representative of the Hilton
family, speaks during the unveiling.
especially for an African American in the
Civil War,” Joi Hilton said. “It says lot.”
With this unveiling, the foundation’s
mission to preserve his memory and
educate the public about his overlooked
heroism will now expand to focus on a
grave marker preservation program that
seeks to identify, locate and appropriately mark the graves of U.S. Colored
Troops buried in Harford County.
Annual scholarships are awarded in
honor of Hilton to students attending
Harford Community College.
Prior to the formation of the Sgt.
Alfred B. Hilton Memorial Fund Inc.,
the Hilton family did not even know of
Alfred Hilton’s accomplishments until
the family connected with a historian
and started researching. After learning
more, the family connected with the
Harford County government to honor
the war hero’s legacy, Joi Hilton said.
In January 2021, a Civil War-themed
playground opened in Alfred B. Hilton
Memorial Park off of Gravel Hill Road,
in the area just west of Havre de Grace
where Hilton grew up and his descendants still own property. The playground
was funded by the county.
The memorial at David R. Craig Park
was funded by grants from state and
county government and organizations.
The foundation received $50,000 grants
from the State of Maryland Capital Grant
and the Harford County government, a
$25,000 grant from the Maryland Historical Trust African American Heritage
Preservation Program and a $10,000
grant from the Dresher Foundation.
The memorial was sponsored by Aberdeen Proving Ground, the City of Havre
de Grace, Federal Credit Union, Jones
Junction, Freedom Federal Credit Union,
BSC America, Bel Air Auto Auction
among many others.
To learn more about Sgt. Alfred B. Hilton
and the foundation: www.sgtalfredbhilton
foundation.com