Confederate Names and Military Installations
Updated August 23, 2021
U.S. Military Bases Named in Honor of Confederate Military Leaders
There are 10 major military installations named after Confederate Civil War commanders located in the
former states of the Confederacy. These are all Army installations: Fort Rucker (after Col. Edmund W.
Rucker, who was given the honorary title of “General”) in Alabama; Fort Benning (Brig. Gen. Henry L.
Benning) and Fort Gordon (Maj. Gen. John Brown Gordon) in Georgia; Camp Beauregard (Gen. Pierre
Gustave Toutant “P.G.T.” Beauregard) and Fort Polk (Gen. Leonidas Polk) in Louisiana; Fort Bragg (Gen.
Braxton Bragg) in North Carolina; Fort Hood (Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood) in Texas; and Fort A.P. Hill (Lt.
Gen. Ambrose Powell “A.P.” Hill), Fort Lee (Gen. Robert E. Lee) and Fort Pickett (Maj. Gen. George
Edward Pickett) in Virginia. According to the U.S. Army Center of Military History, Camp Beauregard
and Forts Benning, Bragg, Gordon, and Lee were established during World War I while the other forts
(Hill, Hood, Pickett, Polk, and Rucker) were established in the 1940s.
The Naming Commission
Section 370 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal
Year 2021 (P.L. 116-283) requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to implement a plan designed by a
commission established by the Secretary of Defense to conduct a study of Confederate States of America
(CSA) commemoratives with the intention of removing and replacing Confederate names from DOD
assets within three years of enactment. Officially named the “Commission on the Naming of Items of the
Department of Defense that Commemorates the Confederate States of America or Any Person Who
Served Voluntarily with the Confederate States of America,” it is also referred to as the Naming
Commission. It is tasked with renaming DOD assets and removing symbols, displays, monuments, and
paraphernalia that commemorate the CSA, by gathering input from local communities and developing an
implementation plan for renaming assets. The commission is to submit the plan to the House and Senate
Armed Services Committees by October 2022. The Defense Secretary is to implement the Commission’s
plan not later than January 1, 2024.
On February 12, 2021, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III announced the appointment of four of the
commissioners: retired Navy Adm. Michelle Howard (chair); retired Marine Corps Gen. Bob Neller; Dr.
Kori Schake, and retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule. Four more commissioners were appointed by the
chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees: retired Army Lt. Gen.
