Near Aldino in Harford County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Alfred B. Hilton

Medal of Honor Recipient

Photographed by Adam Margolis, January 18, 2022

1. Alfred B. Hilton Marker

Inscription. After the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, the U.S. Army recruited both free blacks and slaves. In August 1863, freedman Alfred B. Hilton and his brothers Aaron and Henry enlisted in the 4th U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) in Havre de Grace. Of more than two hundred county men who joined the USCT, twenty-six served in that regiment. Appointed Color Sergeant and described by fellow Medal of Honor recipient Christian Fleetwood as a "magnificent specimen of manhood…splendidly proportioned," Hilton carried the United States flag through several engagements around Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia, in June-September 1864. On September 29, Hilton was mortally wounded at the Battle of New Market Heights east of Richmond. He died on October 21 at the U.S. General Hospital at Fort Monroe and is buried at Hampton National Cemetery. According to the posthumous Medal of Honor citation, "When the regimental color fell, this soldier seized the color and carried it forward, together with the national standard until disabled at the enemy's inner line." Hilton's brothers and many local 4th USCT veterans returned to Harford County

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after the war.

Alfred R. Hilton, Harford County's sole Civil War Medal of Honor recipient and one of only 16 African American recipients for valor during the war, was born about 1837 and reared here on his father's farm in the free black community of Gravel Hill. He was one of manumitted slaves Isaac and Harriet Hilton's 14 children. Like Havre de Grace, Berkley and Kalmia, Gravel Hill was a post on the Underground Railroad before 1864. In 1860, the county's 3,664 free blacks were double the number of slaves and constituted 16 percent of the total population.

Erected 2015 by Maryland Civil War Trails.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Abolition & Underground RR • African Americans • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Maryland Civil War Trails, and the Medal of Honor Recipients series lists. A significant historical month for this entry is August 1863.

Location. 39° 33.998′ N, 76° 9.818′ W. Marker is near Aldino, Maryland, in Harford County. It is on Gravel Hill Road. Marker is in the parking lot of Alfred B. Hilton Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address:

Photographed by Bill Pfingsten, January 3, 2016

2. Alfred B. Hilton Marker

4020 Gravel Hill Rd, Havre de Grace MD 21078, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Baltimore Metro Region

and in Central Maryland.

It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic,

in the Chesapeake Bay Region,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies

and also the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Alfred B. Hilton Memorial Park (within shouting distance of this marker); Memorial Stadium (approx. 2½ miles away); Wrigley Field (approx. 2½ miles away); Citizens Bank Park (approx. 2.6 miles away); Cal Ripken, Jr. (approx. 2.6 miles away); Prospect School (approx. 2.6 miles away); Nationals Park (approx. 2.6 miles away); In memory of Ernie Tyler (approx. 2.6 miles away).

Another marker is no longer nearby. Great 8 (was approx. 2.6 miles away but has been permanently removed).

Photographed by Bill Pfingsten, January 3, 2016

3. Alfred B. Hilton Marker

Photographed by Adam Margolis, January 18, 2022

4. Alfred B. Hilton Marker

Alfred B. Hilton Grave Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Don Morfe, March 18, 2000

5. Alfred B. Hilton Grave Marker

He is buried in Hampton National Cemetery, University site-Section F1-1231, Hampton VA. His grave GPS Coordinates are N37.0199 W76.3348.

Photographed by Carl Gordon Moore Jr., June 24, 2022

6. Alfred B. Hilton Marker

This is along eastbound Maryland route 22 at Aberdeen (not Havre de Grace), where that route crosses over Interstate 95.

Credits. This page was last revised on July 21, 2026. It was originally submitted on January 3, 2016, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. This page has been viewed 1,110 times since then and 62 times this year. Last updated on February 12, 2022, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos: 1. submitted on January 18, 2022, by Adam Margolis of Mission Viejo, California. 2, 3. submitted on January 3, 2016, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. 4. submitted on January 18, 2022, by Adam Margolis of Mission Viejo, California. 5. submitted on June 27, 2016, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. 6. submitted on July 5, 2022, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.