TFH 10/11: Medals of Honor for Two Soldiers of the "Old Hickory" Division

The United States Army's 30th Infantry Division was formed for combat in World War I during October 1917 with members of the Army National Guard from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee forming its core. The division was nicknamed "Old Hickory" in honor of General and later President Andrew Jackson, who came from Tennessee.

Two soldiers from the division were both decorated with the Medal of Honor for their heroism on October 11, 1918. The first, Private Robert Lester Blackwell, hailed from Hurdle Mills, North Carolina and was born on October 4, 1895. The second, Sergeant Richmond Hobson Hilton, was born in Westville, South Carolina on October 8, 1898.


From Medal of Honor Citations for World War I:


*BLACKWELL, ROBERT L.

Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company K, 119th Infantry, 30th Division. Place and date: Near St. Souplet, France, 11 October 1918. Entered service at: Hurdle Mills, N.C. Birth: Person County, N.C. G.O. No.: 13, W.D., 1919. Citation: When his platoon was almost surrounded by the enemy and his platoon commander asked for volunteers to carry a message calling for reinforcements, Pvt. Blackwell volunteered for this mission, well knowing the extreme danger connected with it. In attempting to get through the heavy shell and machinegun fire this gallant soldier was killed.

And


HILTON, RICHMOND H.

Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company M, 118th Infantry, 30th Division. Place and date: At Brancourt, France, 11 October 1918. Entered service at: Westville, S.C. Born: 8 October 1898, Westville, S.C. G.O. No.: 16, W.D., 1919. Citation: While Sgt. Hilton's company was advancing through the village of Brancourt it was held up by intense enfilading fire from a machinegun. Discovering that this fire came from a machinegun nest among shell holes at the edge of the town, Sgt. Hilton, accompanied by a few other soldiers, but well in advance of them, pressed on toward this position, firing with his rifle until his ammunition was exhausted, and then with his pistol, killing 6 of the enemy and capturing 10. In the course of this daring exploit he received a wound from a bursting shell, which resulted in the loss of his arm.

Private Blackwell rests near the ground where he fell in the Somme American Cemetery and Memorial along with 1,843 of his comrades. He is memorialized both in his hometown of Hurdle Mills and in Roxboro, North Carolina.

Sergeant Hilton survived the war and passed away in 1933. He is buried in the Quaker Cemetery of Camden, South Carolina.

The lineage and traditions of the 30th Infantry Division are today carried by the 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, comprised of members of both the North Carolina and West Virginia Army National Guards.