Heroic soldier comes to life
Black Civil War veteran subject of Bel Air mural
The Civil War legacy of Sgt. Alfred B. Hilton has been brought forward with a variety of monuments, parks and other locations being named in honor of the Harford County native.
Recently, Hilton, an African American Union Army soldier enlisted in Company H, 4th United States Colored Troops during the Civil War, was posthumously presented the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military honor, for his actions at the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm in Virginia.
During the battle, historians say he encountered a seriously injured flag bearer from his group. Rather than allowing the flag of the 4th USCT to touch the ground, Hilton shouldered his flag and that of his injured comrade and continued the charge.
One of the local buildings bearing his name is American Legion Post 55 on Bond Street in Bel Air. Not long ago, the leaders of Post 55 decided to commission artist Jack Pabis to paint a mural of Hilton leading the charge on the side of their building.
“It was about two years ago or so now that I got a call from the group asking me if I was interested, so I came up with a quick sketch,” said Pabis, while standing next to the wall, now covered with silhouettes of Civil War soldiers, on a recent afternoon. “I guess because of COVID, I didn’t hear from them for a long time. So, I figured, ‘Well, that fell through or whatever.’ ”
Pabis, a Frederick muralist who has painted another mural in Bel Air, was later contacted and told the project was moving forward. Members of Post 55 and local historians worked with Pabis, based on his original sketch, to properly depict the scene.
“I did some research early on, so I think I had the basic idea of all these guys moving in one direction and Alfred
Hilton leading the charge with the flags, I knew that much of the scene,” Pabis said, adding that he set out to find a variety of Civil War-era photos and even used photos from reenactments to help depict human figures in action, uniform colors and a host of other details.
“They kind of gave me the basics and started me off with a depiction of the battle, so that got my imagination going. But I needed some imagery,” Pabis said. “There are no photos of him, so I went from there just trying to find anything of that time period. The truth is I have to use my imagination a lot, so I’m using photos from the Civil War era, reenactments and making an interpretation of that to depict the scene.”
Pabis began the project in
late August and hopes that with some cooperation from the weather, he will be able to unveil the mural to the community by the end of October.
Mike Blum, a committee volunteer for the project, said the mural will be a source for pride for Post 55 and Bel Air.
“The mural art itself had been subjected to critical review by scholars of the Civil War and experts in matters such as uniforms, flags and pennants, combat conditions, etc.,” Blum said in an email. “So, although there is no way to guarantee that any work of art exactly reproduces an actual event, we feel confident that this mural is as accurate as it can be … and a historical reconstruction of significant educational value to our children”