The 4th Louisiana Native Guard Infantry Regiment was an African-American unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War.

The Regiment took part in battles at Port Hudson, Louisiana, and Fort Blakely, Alabama before being mustered out of service in December, 1865.

When the Native Guard regiments were first organized, some of the officers were Black men, but General Nathaniel P. Banks, Butler's successor as commander of Union forces in New Orleans, sought to remove them from their positions.

The Regiment then took part in the siege of Port Hudson beginning in May 1863, as Union forces sought to dislodge the Confederates from their strongpoints along the Mississippi River.

Benedict was court-martialed and dismissed from the service for "inflicting cruel and unusual punishment, to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.

At this stage of the war, Black units were assigned to garrison duties to hold strategic points along the Mississippi River and free up veteran Union regiments for service elsewhere.

General Henry Halleck wrote to Ulysses S. Grant, in July 1863, shortly after the capture of Vicksburg, expressing his opinion that the regiments of freshly-recruited Black troops would be suitable for this assignment: “The Mississippi should be the base of future operations east and west.

When Port Hudson falls, the fortifications of that place, as well as of Vicksburg, should be so arranged as to be held by the smallest possible garrisons, thus leaving the mass of troops for operations in the field.

Starting on April 2, Union forces laid siege to the Confederate-held Fort Blakely on the north side of Mobile bay.