Samuel Graham Hodgens enrolled in the Union Army on April 27, 1861. Enrollment took place in Canonsburg, Washington County, Pennsylvania. A 20-year-old college student at the time, he was the son of Thomas & Mary Graham Hodgens. He graduated from Jefferson College in absentia a few weeks after departing for military duty. He was assigned to the 10th Pa. Reserves, Company D. This regiment was also known as the Jefferson Light Guard and the 39th Pa. Infantry Regiment. He mustered in at Camp Wilkins in Pittsburgh on June 19, 1861 and was promoted to corporal on July 21, 1861 in Harrisburg. He was promoted to sergeant at an unknown date. He received a gunshot would to the spine on June 30, 1862 at the battle of White Oak Swamp, Va. This battle was also known as the Battle at Frayser's Farm (Charles City Crossroads or Glendale) and was part of the Peninsula Campaign. He was captured by Confederate soldiers that day and carried off to Libby Prison in Richmond, VA. He was later transferred to Satterlee Hospital in Philadelphia during a prisoner exchange. The bullet was not removed and he never fully recovered from his wounds. He was discharged on a surgical certificate on December 2 or 3, 1863. He abandoned his hope of becoming a minister due to his physical disability and pursued the study of medicine, graduating from Jefferson Medical College in the spring of 1866. He married Anna K. Murray, daughter of Dr. T. J. Murray, of Canonsburg on December 31, 1868 and set up a medical practice in Illinois. In July 1873, he could no longer perform his duties as a physician due to the lingering effects of the bullet lodged in his spine. He finally succumbed to the injury on September 16, 1873 at the age of 32 years in Sunbeam, Illinois. Upon his death, the bullet which had plagued him for so long, fell from his back. His body was returned to Canonsburg on September 23 where services were held at the Chartiers Presbyterian Church. He was buried in Oak Spring Cemetery, Section F, Lot 52 on September 24, 1873 alongside his father, brothers and sister.