Forgotten 1812 Portland soldier receives military honors

PORTLAND — The “Taps” was finally performed for Richard Hill Saturday.
, an African-American veteran of the War of 1812, received military honors and a veteran’s headstone at a brief ceremony in the so-called Colored Ground in the Eastern Cemetery, 150 years after his death.

Hill is believed to have witnessed the British attack on Fort McHenry Sept. 14, 1814, the battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Hill and his gravesite were forgotten following his death in 1861 at the hands of his son who murdered him outside their home on Munjoy Hill.