At the outbreak of the
American Civil War, Hodgson left seminary and enlisted as a private in the
44th Virginia Infantry of the
Confederate States Army. He transferred to serve in the
1st Regiment Alabama Infantry, which was led by his brother, Colonel Joseph Hodgson. He was eventually promoted to the staff of General
Joseph Wheeler. In 1863 he was ordained as an Episcopal deacon and then as a priest in 1864 in Macon, Georgia, where he served as a chaplain in a hospital. A few years after the war, Hodgson went to Europe, where he lived in 1869–1870. Some of his sermons were about the Confederate fallen. In 1876 he gave
Sewanee: The University of the South $10,000 to build a library; it was the first building in Sewanee to be constructed of stone. Theological education had been a growing concern at Sewanee since it began admitting students in 1868, and shortly thereafter it merged with the Sewanee Training and Divinity School. It had no dean of theology until Hodgson was hired as dean in 1878. He served as dean until 1893, and also served as vice chancellor from 1879 to 1890. ==Personal life, death and legacy==