Unknown lieutenant colonel: fictional?

[Stryker65]

Found the following in the official Battle of Bentonville Wikipedia article:

Among the Confederate casualties ... was the twenty-three year old Lieutenant Colonel of the 5th Cavalry Battalion, which had been fighting dismounted since the fall of 1864. Sample was killed by an artillery fragmentation, having sustained his 9th and last wound during the war.

There was no Confederate lieutenant colonel named Sample, and at this time the only "5th Cavalry Battalion" in Confederate service was a Florida unit, which was still in Florida and nowhere near Bentonville. Additionally, I know of no cavalry unit that was permanently dismounted in fall of 1864 -- I don't believe there were any permanently-dismounted cavalry fighting at Bentonville other than Granbury's brigade, and those were Texans.

The wording of the phrase was suspicious as well: "killed by an artillery fragmentation" was something I've never heard of before, but I ran it through two separate AI-detection websites and failed to turn up any AI involvement.

As shown below, the sentences end with a source -- Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes Jr.'s Bentonville: The Final Battle of Sherman and Johnston, pages 188-204 -- but there is no mention of a "5th Cavalry Battalion," a "Sample," or even a "twenty-three year old" in that section.

After seeing other strange edits on Wikipedia, I'm inclined to think that this is just made up (like this), or cited from a historical fiction novel (like this) -- what are your thoughts?

 

[Stryker65]

@GELongstreet, do you know when/why this happened?

 

[lupaglupa]

Do you have a Wikipedia log in to see edits? You could find who and when that section was posted and or edited.

 

[Bruce Allardice]

A Benjamin B. Sample was said to be Lt Col of the 5th Florida Cav Battalion.
But as you point out, this unit appears to have been in Florida at this time. And Sample is not listed as a field officer of this unit. It is of course possible that Sample was on furlough and joined Granbury's brigade in time for the battle. And that Sample had some sort of title to "Lt. Col."--militia, or unofficial promotion.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Found no member on the rolls of the 5th FL Battalion of Cavalry with the last name of 'Sample' (or 'Semple'). See https://archive.org/details/soldiersofflorid00flor/mode/1up @ pp. 285-296 .

Similarly, found no Colonel in active service with any Confederate unit with that same last name. (Also thought he was not a Colonel of militia, as no militia units were engaged at Bentonville).

On Find-a-Grave, only found James Beria Sample (1840-1865)- see https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/263849451/james-beria-sample . He has no known burial details but interestingly it's shown he died on Mar. 22, '65. However, no connection with Confederate service can be established for this individual who also appears to have been Northern raised in PA.

Bottom line. 'Colonel Sample' is likely fictional in the context given.

 

[GELongstreet]

Yet another case of an IP-editor who quickly added some information to dozens of articles without sources and then vanished. At times copying right into sourced paragraphs (like here). Almost all are battles or orders of battles, the content adding this Sample and the 5th FL Cav. Btln.; other entries from that user (and other versions) giving him as Benjamin Bradley Sample, formerly Captain of the Jacksonville Light Infantry and then Major in the 3rd FL Inf. Regiment, Lt. Col. of the 1st FL Cav. Regiment, commander of the 6th FL Inf. Regiment etc. Also some casualty numbers, likewise unsourced, all within a few days in 2024.

I didn't find this Sample person in the few relates books I have nor in a quick online search. And at times the info is easily contradicted. Suspect a fantasy scenario as well, people are free to invent such but not to put it on wiki as facts.

So far so bad, now it gets worse. Searches for this Sample led to more edits by various other IPs and temporary accounts (suspecting of course the same person to be behind them) a year later, more edits about this person and now wife, with more prose in more diverse articles. Meanwhile the latest version of that does include sources which I could access - which do not include the alleged info on said pages.

Making things short, while not rushing things (not that I haven't other things to do) I'll try to trace and revert all those edits. But the apparent stop of the edits and the varying IP address/account methods would make sanctions difficult, so I'll not take on that process work as well (as long as the reverts are not re-reverted, we'll see) and hope the consistent reverts will prevent any further idiocy. May leave a message on the latest talk page though.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

A search for Benjamin Sample Florida cavalry turns up several AI Facebook posts from 2025.

One post is by Jay Kravetz, who claims to be a historian and photographer, since 1975, but whose public posts are a long series of AI-generated images about the American Revolution and the Civil War in Florida.

Google Books search for
"Benjamin Sample" Confederate
finds nothing.

 

[lupaglupa]

One wonders what the goal was for all this.

 

[Stryker65]

Do you have a Wikipedia log in to see edits? You could find who and when that section was posted and or edited.

I tried, but every time I try to see it, I get a "Your IP address has been blocked by _____" message.

 

[Stryker65]

Yet another case of an IP-editor who quickly added some information to dozens of articles without sources and then vanished. At times copying right into sourced paragraphs (like here). Almost all are battles or orders of battles, the content adding this Sample and the 5th FL Cav. Btln.; other entries from that user (and other versions) giving him as Benjamin Bradley Sample, formerly Captain of the Jacksonville Light Infantry and then Major in the 3rd FL Inf. Regiment, Lt. Col. of the 1st FL Cav. Regiment, commander of the 6th FL Inf. Regiment etc. Also some casualty numbers, likewise unsourced, all within a few days in 2024.

I didn't find this Sample person in the few relates books I have nor in a quick online search. And at times the info is easily contradicted. Suspect a fantasy scenario as well, people are free to invent such but not to put it on wiki as facts.

So far so bad, now it gets worse. Searches for this Sample led to more edits by various other IPs and temporary accounts (suspecting of course the same person to be behind them) a year later, more edits about this person and now wife, with more prose in more diverse articles. Meanwhile the latest version of that does include sources which I could access - which do not include the alleged info on said pages.

Making things short, while not rushing things (not that I haven't other things to do) I'll try to trace and revert all those edits. But the apparent stop of the edits and the varying IP address/account methods would make sanctions difficult, so I'll not take on that process work as well (as long as the reverts are not re-reverted, we'll see) and hope the consistent reverts will prevent any further idiocy. May leave a message on the latest talk page though.

Thanks a billion! I hate calling on you every time I see something like this, but I'm prevented from reverting it myself, and I thought this was a serious one.

It seems "Benjamin B. Sample" has been added to every Army of Tennessee order of battle, whether on Wikipedia, Wikiwand, Wiki Fandom; as well as every Florida Civil War battle. It appears Mr. Kravetz attempted to post this false story on the Stones River NPS page and a Florida Reenactors' FB page, but in both cases his post was deleted by admins. Mr. Kravetz keeps up FB, Instagram, and even TikTok pages, which all keep posting about this Benjamin B. Sample who appears to have been everywhere with every Florida unit at every Florida battle during the war.

 

[Stryker65]

For fun, here are all the "battles" Benjamin B. Sample "participated" in, all of which -- of course -- is completely fake:
- Brick Church, Cedar Creek (FL), Perryville, Stones River (a now-deleted Instagram post), Franklin, Gainesville, Marianna, Olustee
For fun, here are all the units "Benjamin B. Sample" was "a part of":
- 3rd FL Infantry (Capt. and Lt. Col.)
- 5th FL Cavalry Battalion (Lt. Col.)
- 6th FL Infantry (Lt. Col.)
- 1st FL Infantry (Lt. Col.)
(Apparently in that order)
For fun, some other cool information, all of which -- of course -- is completely fake:
- "Wounded twice"
- "Killed at Franklin"
- Known for his "tactical brilliance"
- "Quoted" on trying to stop his men from killing black troops by leeching off of credible source citations (adding in his edits right before the citation mark)

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

One wonders what the goal was for all this.

Someone trying to create provenance for some "relics" they want to sell for big $$$? Really, this seems like so much effort on someone's part there has to be a monetary payoff somewhere….

 

[lupaglupa]

This is bizarre.

 

[Library Lady]

When George Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, he said, "Because it's there."

Why would someone want to mess up the Internet? Because they can and because they have nothing better to do.

 

[35th MA InfRegt]

Found the following in the official Battle of Bentonville Wikipedia article:

There was no Confederate lieutenant colonel named Sample, and at this time the only "5th Cavalry Battalion" in Confederate service was a Florida unit, which was still in Florida and nowhere near Bentonville. Additionally, I know of no cavalry unit that was permanently dismounted in fall of 1864 -- I don't believe there were any permanently-dismounted cavalry fighting at Bentonville other than Granbury's brigade, and those were Texans.

The wording of the phrase was suspicious as well: "killed by an artillery fragmentation" was something I've never heard of before, but I ran it through two separate AI-detection websites and failed to turn up any AI involvement.

As shown below, the sentences end with a source -- Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes Jr.'s Bentonville: The Final Battle of Sherman and Johnston, pages 188-204 -- but there is no mention of a "5th Cavalry Battalion," a "Sample," or even a "twenty-three year old" in that section.
View attachment 582196

After seeing other strange edits on Wikipedia, I'm inclined to think that this is just made up (like this), or cited from a historical fiction novel (like this) -- what are your thoughts?

Could be both for all we know. Nonsense like this is why I gave up as a would be contributor on Wikipedia nearly twenty years ago.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Maybe someone was trying to do AI research and took an AI hallucination as fact and convinced themselves they had made a great discovery of lost history and genuinely think they're correcting the historical record. That the officer's name is "Sample" may not be a coincidence.

Maybe it's a deliberate attempt to discredit Wikipedia.

Maybe it's a manufactured defense of Confederate history. Look how biased historians and Wikipedia have "erased" a Confederate hero and delete every mention of his name!

 

[GELongstreet]

Found about 4 old IP-users and an old temporary account; left messages about reverting the edits on the talk pages but since the accounts should all be inactive by now I have no idea if the person behind them will be able to take notice of that ... Wikipedia replaced IP-users with temporary accounts last year and those automatically expire after 3 months. I really hope the person hasn't done more of that editing, be it about Sample or other stuff, on more IP or temporary accounts. Wiki had and has to deal with unsupported material, vandalism and hoaxes forever, and some hoaxes sadly have long lives (longest recorded with over 20 years). Will continue tomorrow.

 

[GELongstreet]

Sooooo ... found some another year back with another IP-account and 2 actual accounts, both having been banned after just a couple of edits. Meanwhile I think I got everything removed now, so no more samples, thanks.

If anybody finds something really fishy about the ACW on Wikipedia and thinks more eyes are needed one can also e.g. make a post on the talk-page of WikiProject Military History, whose American Civil War task force is quite active. Meanwhile of course a topic here can really help as well, with all the knowledgeable people and many sources at disposal. Anyway please don't hesitate to ping or message me.

EDIT: Just for the records, am not doing anything on WikiWand or Fandom. Also, if I'm not mistaken those might mirror the wikipedia articles and thus automatically change with some delay (not sure though).