Ben Carlton

Ben Carlton (d. 1917) was a soldier in the United States Army duting the Great War. He was an infantry private assigned to General George Custer's First Army, serving alongside Paul Mantarakis and Gordon McSweeney. Unlike his comrades, he remains a private throughout the war. He serves in Kentucky, Utah, Baja California, and Arkansas. It was mentioned that he was something of a rogue prior to his entry to the military.

As company cook, he causes great grief due to his inability to cook. Even Gordon McSweeney, a man with a cast-iron stomach, complains about his cookery. Paul Mantarakis tried to teach him how to cook, but Mantarakis' death in Baja California ended that. However, despite his poor culinary skills, Ben Carlton was an expert scrounger. This was shown best in Kentucky, where he scrounged a lamb for the company's Christmas dinner. He also gives Gordon McSweeney great grief due to his profane and blasphemous speech habits, both of whom offend the fanatical Presbyterian.

Ben Carlton remains with the company throughout the war. During the offensive in Arkansas, Ben Carlton falls victim to bombardment by a Confederate monitor. In an act of mercy, Gordon McSweeney slits his throat.