| Ben Carlton | |
| Fictional Character | |
| Southern Victory POD: September 10, 1862 | |
| Appearance(s): | American Front; Walk in Hell; Breakthroughs† |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
| Nationality: | United States |
| Date of Birth: | 19th century |
| Date of Death: | 1917 |
| Cause of Death: | Throat slit after fatal belly injury (Great War) |
| Occupation: | Soldier, Cook |
| Military Branch: | United States Army (Great War) |
Ben Carlton (d. 1917) was a soldier in the United States Army during the Great War. He was an infantry sergeant assigned to General George Armstrong Custer's First Army, serving alongside Paul Mantarakis and Gordon McSweeney. He served in Kentucky, Utah, Baja California, and Arkansas. He was something of a rogue prior to his entry to the military.
Carlton was the company cook, a task to which he was completely unequal. Even Gordon McSweeney, a man with a cast-iron stomach, complained about his cooking. 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 gave Gordon McSweeney great grief due to his profane and blasphemous speech habits, both of which offended the fanatical Presbyterian.
During the offensive in Arkansas, Carlton fell victim to bombardment by a Confederate monitor, and shrapnel ripped open his belly. In an act of mercy, Gordon McSweeney slit Carlton's throat.
