05-12-2023 MAW - Flipbook - Page 9
Baltimore Sun Media | Friday, May 12, 2023
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Memorial for Sgt. Alfred Hilton unveiled
By Tony Roberts
Oscar Hilton Jr. , the great- great- greatnephew of Sgt. Alfred B. Hilton, studies the
memorial dedicated to his ancestor after
the unveiling of the memorial in David Craig
Park in Havre de Grace on Nov. 4, 2022.
been enslaved in the county.
Hilton enlisted with the 4th Regiment
United States Colored Troops in 1863 and
was made a color bearer in 1864, tasked
with carrying the national flag into battle.
On Sept. 29, 1864, Hilton and his regiment advanced ahead of Union troops
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Arline Allen, left, representing American Legion Post 55, and Candi Bossoli, representing
American Legion Post 47, carry a wreath to be placed at the memorial during the unveiling of
the Sgt. Alfred B. Hilton Memorial in David Craig Park in Havre de Grace on Nov. 4, 2022.
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Harford County celebrated the unveiling
of the Sgt. Alfred B. Hilton Memorial at the
David Craig Park in November. The memorial commemorates Harford County’s only
Medal of Honor recipient.
The Havre de Grace site features a
picture of what is believed to be Hilton
and his unit and the flags of Hilton’s country, state and county. Hilton’s personal
history is engraved on the back of pictures
of Hilton’s unit.
“This has been amazing and overwhelming,” said Joi Hilton, the great-great-greatgreat-niece of Alfred Hilton. “People can
come out and see where he came from.
They can find all the history of him right
here.”
Alfred B. Hilton is one of 16 Black union
Army Soldiers who received the Medal of
Honor, the nation’s highest military award,
for their service during the Civil War. He
is the only service member from Harford
County to receive this distinction.
According to the Sgt. Alfred B. Hilton
Memorial Fund, Hilton was born in the
Hopewell area of Harford County, now
Level, around 1842 to Harriet and Isaac
Hilton, free citizens who had formerly