Sergeant Alfred B Hilton
Company H
4th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry
DOD 10/21/64
Grave # 1231, Section E, Hampton National Cemetery
Hampton, Virginia

Enlistment Date: 11 Aug 1863, Enlistment Place: Baltimore, Maryland
Died from wounds Company H, 4th Infantry Regiment U.S. Colored Troops 
on 21 Oct 1864 at Fort Monroe, VA.

Biography
By September 29, 1864, Hilton was serving as a Sergeant in Company H 
of the 4th Regiment United States Colored Infantry. On that day, his 
unit participated in the Battle of Chaffin's Farm on the outskirts of 
the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. During the battle, 
Hilton carried the American flag as part of the unit's color guard. 
As the 4th Regiment charged the enemy fortifications, Hilton grabbed 
a second flag, the regimental colors, from a wounded soldier. When he 
was himself seriously wounded by a shot through the leg, he called out
"Boys, save the colors!" Two of his fellow soldiers stepped forward; 
Sergeant Major Christian Fleetwood took the American flag and Private 
Charles Veale grabbed the blue regimental flag, each before the colors 
could touch the ground.[1]
Hilton died of his wounds nearly a month later, on October 21. Six 
months after the battle, on April 6, 1865, he was posthumously issued 
the Medal of Honor for his actions at Chaffin's Farm. The men who had 
taken the flags after he was wounded, Fleetwood and Veale, also received 
the medal.

Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company H, 4th U.S. Colored Troops. 
Place and date. At Chapins Farm, Va., September 29, 1864. Entered service 
at:------. Birth: Harford County, Md. Date of issue: April 6, 1865.

Citation:
When the regimental color bearer fell, this soldier seized the color 
and carried it forward, together with the national standard, until 
disabled at the enemy's inner line.

Notes
(1)  Beyer, W. F. and O.F. Keydel (eds.) (2000). Deeds of valor: How 
America's Civil War heroes won the Congressional Medal of Honor. 
New York, NY: SMITHMARK Publishers. pp. 434. ISBN 0-7651-1769-X. 

References
Alfred B. Hilton at Find a Grave Retrieved on 2007-01-13 
"Civil War Medal of Honor Recipients (A-L)". Medal of Honor Citations. 
U.S. Army Center of Military History. 2005-04-27. 
http://www.army.mil/cmh/html/moh/civwaral.html. Retrieved 2007-01-13. 
            Wikipedia   "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_B._Hilton"

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Researched and submitted by:

John G. Hall
Graves Registration Officer
Colonel James Brady Camp #63
Department Of Maryland
Sons Of Union Veterans Of The Civil War