Military bases’ new names sound as if they’re named after Confederates, but that’s not the case

During a visit to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, President Donald Trump said that seven military bases once named for Confederate military figures — and then renamed under former President Joe Biden for other military honorees — would revert to their original names.

But they’re not being named for Confederates.

“For a little breaking news, we are also going to be restoring the names to Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort A.P. Hill and Fort Robert E. Lee,” Trump said June 10. “We won a lot of battles out of those forts. It’s no time to change. And I’m superstitious, you know, I like to keep it going, right?”

Fort Bragg, along with Fort Benning in Georgia, reverted to their original names earlier this year under Trump.

Those two bases’ names changed after passage of a 2020 federal law following nationwide protests over the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis. The law required renaming military bases named for Confederate leaders. Trump vetoed the 2020 bill, citing the bill’s “politically motivated attempts … to wash away history.” Congress overrode his veto.

In 2022 and 2023, the federal government renamed nine Army bases named for Confederates after a commission’s deliberations.

The names of the seven bases Trump mentioned are not reverting to honor Confederate military figures, as some media coverage said they would.

Rather, the Pentagon found different military awardees with the same last names as the Confederate figures and named the bases after them.

For instance, Fort Hood in Texas was originally named for Confederate Maj. Gen. John Hood and renamed Fort Cavazos after Gen. Richard E. Cavazosthe Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The base name now reverts to Fort Hood, this time honoring Col. Robert B. Hood, who was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for service in World War I.

Military historians we contacted criticized the approach.

William Stueck, a University of Georgia emeritus history professor who specializes in military history, said he wondered how the renaming decisions were made.

“Was it an effort at coalition politics to accommodate those who are anti-(diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives) but draw the line at celebrating disunion?” Stueck said.

Lance Janda, a Cameron University military historian, said the decision “shows a complete lack of respect for Congress, the naming commission, and the memory and sacrifice of those who the bases and ships in question were recently renamed for.”

David Silbey, a Cornell University historian and frequent author of books about the military, noted that the administration was boxed in by the 2020 law, which explicitly forbids the Pentagon from naming things after Confederates.

“I don’t think it’s because of any delicacy around the Confederates, rather it’s just a way of winking and nodding at the law,” Silbey said.

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee (Wikimedia Commons)

In his Fort Bragg remarks, Trump diverged with the Pentagon’s explanation by referring to “Fort Robert E. Lee.”

According to a Pentagon announcement obtained by several news outletsthe base in Petersburg, Virginia, will not be named after the former Confederate general or use his full name. The base was previously called Fort Lee in the Confederate’s honor (though without the “Robert E.”) until it was changed to Fort Gregg-Adams under Biden. Now it will honor Medal of Honor recipient Pvt. Fitz Lee “for his heroism during the Spanish-American War.”

Confederate Gen. Ambrose Powell (A.P.) Hill Jr. (Wikimedia Commons)

Another base Trump mentioned, A.P. Hill, was originally named for Confederate Gen. Ambrose Powell Hill Jr. The Pentagon now will approximate the former name by honoring three Civil War Medal of Honor recipients with matching initials or last names: Lt. Col. Edward Hill, 1st Sgt. Robert A. Pinn and Pvt. Bruce Anderson. Collectively, the base will be known as Fort Anderson-Pinn-Hill, which presumably will be shortened to Fort A.P. Hill.

The other five bases Trump mentioned — Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk — will all revert to their original names, but with different honorees, including those who served in World War I, World War II and the battle of Mogadishu in the 1990s.

The seven name changes follow the pattern that started with the name changes at Fort Bragg and Fort Benning. Fort Bragg, originally named after Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, was renamed to Fort Liberty during the Biden administration. It was renamed in March for World War II paratrooper and Silver Star recipient Roland Bragg. Fort Benning, which had changed to Fort Moore, was renamed for Fred Benning, who was honored for bravery in World War I.

Civil War historians told PolitiFact in 2023 that the case of Fort Bragg’s original honoree was particularly egregious. The general enslaved more than 100 people on his sugar plantation and was “a famously poor general, known to be so by soldiers and officers in his own command,” said Bruce Levine, a University of Illinois emeritus history professor and author of several books on the Civil War.

In addition, “Bragg enthusiastically, if poorly, helped lead an armed insurrection against the United States government that tried to break up the Union and preserve slavery,” Levine said.