10 US Army bases are named for Confederate leaders. Could they be renamed?
Top military officials say they are open to the idea of renaming the 10 Army bases named for Confederate generals.
Symbols of the Confederacy have been removed by protesters or states and cities in recent years, but the Army has resisted calls to rename installations like Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Benning in Georgia.
Confederate statues and symbols have come into focus now as protesters continue to gather across the country to call for racial equity after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died last month in the custody of Minneapolis police.
Confederate monuments have been vandalized in at least six states in the South since protests began, McClatchy News reported.
As recently as February, the Army said it did not plan to rename bases that bear the name of Confederate generals, according to Task & Purpose.
Now those plans might be changing.
“The Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Army are open to a bi-partisan discussion on the topic,” an Army spokesperson told McClatchy News.
The Army is the only branch of the military with bases named for Confederate leaders, according to the Congressional Research Service. The bases are all in the South.
Here are the bases, according to the Congressional Research Service:
- Fort Rucker, named for Gen. Edmund Rucker, in Alabama
- Fort Benning, named for Brig. Gen. Henry L. Benning, in Georgia
- Fort Gordon, named for Maj. Gen. John Brown Gordon, in Georgia
- Camp Beauregard, named for Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, in Louisiana
- Fort Polk, named for Gen. Leonidas Polk, in Louisiana
- Fort Bragg, named for Gen. Braxton Bragg, in North Carolina
- Fort Hood, named for Gen. John Bell Hood, in Texas
- Fort A.P. Hill, named for Gen. A.P. Hill, in Virginia
- Fort Lee, named for Gen. Robert E. Lee, in Virginia
- Fort Pickett, named for Gen. George Pickett, in Virginia
The Congressional Research Service said members of Congress began asking about renaming the Army bases after the 2017 protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee.
The 2017 Congressional Research Service report noted, “Renaming actions are strongly discouraged, and seldom appropriate. Expect strong resistance from local residents, heirs, historical societies, and others from an attempt to rename.”
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Fort Lee was named for Gen. Charles Lee. Fort Lee in Virginia was named for Robert E. Lee.
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 7:14 AM with the headline "10 US Army bases are named for Confederate leaders. Could they be renamed?."
