Benjamin Lewis Hodge (c. 1824 – August 12, 1864) was a Confederate politician who commanded the 19th Louisiana Infantry Regiment during the early stages of the American Civil War, including during the Battle of Shiloh.

[3] By the 1860 census, his assets had grown to a value of over $100,000, including four slaves,[4] making him one of the wealthiest men in north Louisiana at the time and one of the most successful lawyers in the state.

He was the owner of shops and the largest residence in Shreveport, and was invested in land and slaves, having married Caledonia Cash,[5] the adopted daughter of a leading local planter, in 1852.

Planters in the rest of Caddo Parish carried it for the Southern Democrats, who gained a plurality of the state vote over the Constitutional Unionists.

[15] Hodge joined the army on April 20, becoming third lieutenant of the Shreveport Grays infantry company, which was slated to join the 1st Louisiana Regulars but instead went to Lieutenant Colonel Charles Didier Dreux's 1st Louisiana Battalion, where it was designated Company D. He brought James Lewis, a free colored man, into service with him.

The battalion served on picket duty in the Virginia Peninsula and on July 2 Hodge resigned his commission, returning to Louisiana with Lewis.

Gibson's brigade failed to break the Union line in several frontal assaults, with Hodge writing in his post-battle report that "it would have been madness to have kept my command there longer."

Bragg ignored this suggestion, but Hodge was vindicated by the surrender of the Hornet's Nest defenders hours later when the Confederates employed massed artillery and flank attacks.

His ad hoc formation was positioned on the right of the army in support of Brigadier General James R. Chalmers' brigade in Davis' field.

The guns of the Washington Artillery were temporarily overrun by Colonel William B. Hazen's brigade around 11:00, and the Louisianans charged forward to retake them, routing the Union troops.

[29] Hodge, described by a contemporary newspaper as "well known as one of the most brilliant men in North Louisiana," was buried in an unmarked grave in Shreveport's Oakland Cemetery.