U.S. ARMY CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY FACT SHEET
SUBJECT: The Naming of U.S. Army Posts for Confederate Army Officers
Before World War I
From its beginnings, the U.S. Army has named posts for individuals,
such as Fort Washington (for George Washington) in 1776, Fort
McPherson (for James B. McPherson) in 1867, and Schofield Barracks
(for John M. Schofield) in 1908. Selection of names usually was left
to the local commander until the War Department, in an effort to
“secure uniformity,” promulgated General Order Number 79 in November
1878. It reserved the prerogative to name posts to regional
commanders, and noted that “forts” were permanent, while “camps”
were temporary.
World War I
War Department Naming of New Installations in 1917
A 17 July 1917 memorandum by Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Kuhn, chief of the
General Staff’s War College Division, described the Army’s informal
policy used to name newly created camps. Of the eight criteria, the
three key ones were that the name should: (1) represent a person
from the locale of the troops stationed there, (2) that it be “not
unpopular in the vicinity of the camp,” and (3) that it focus on
“Federal commanders for camps of divisions from northern States and
of Confederates for camps of divisions from southern States.” Two
other criteria could make some Civil War names “impracticable:”
names should be short “to avoid clerical labor” and they could not
be the same as the name of a living prominent person. When an
appropriate Civil War name could not be used for a post, then those
from other eras would be acceptable. Secretary of War Newton D.
Baker was aware of this policy and approved it.
General Kuhn headed the board of officers that provided a list of
suggested names, including alternates, for the chief of staff. The
chief of staff selected the final names. His choices did not always
follow the informal policy. For example, he rejected four
Confederate names for southern camps housing southern troops,
selecting instead northerners, or southerners from the pre–Civil War
era. (See Table 1.) In six instances, he followed the policy of
naming camps in the south after northerners when they housed
northern troops. (See Table 2.) Of the nineteen initial camps in
southern states, only four were named for Confederate officers: Camp
Lee (for Robert E. Lee) in Virginia, Camp Beauregard (for P. G. T.
Beauregard) in Louisiana, Camp Gordon (for John B. Gordon) in
Georgia, and Camp Wheeler (for Joseph Wheeler) in Georgia. (Wheeler
subsequently served as a general of U.S. volunteers in the
Spanish-American War and received a Regular Army commission as a
brigadier general.)
TABLE 1
CONFEDERATE NAMES INITIALLY REJECTED DURING WORLD WAR I
LOCATION |
TROOPS FROM |
NAME REJECTED |
NAME ACCEPTED |
Anniston, AL |
29th Division (VA, DC, MD, DE, NJ) |
J. E. B. Stuart |
George B. McClellan (U.S. Army, Civil War) |
Greenville, SC |
30th Division
(TN, NC, SC)
|
Nathan Bedford Forrest |
John Sevier (North Carolina Militia, Revolutionary War) |
Little Rock, AR |
87th Division (AR, LA, MS) |
Braxton Bragg |
Zebulon M. Pike (U.S. Army, War of 1812) |
Fort Sam Houston, TX |
90th Division (TX, AZ, NM, OK) |
John Bell Hood |
William B. Travis (Texas Army,Texas Revolution) |
TABLE 2
OTHER WORLD WAR I SOUTHERN CAMPS NAMED FOR NORTHERN OFFICERS
LOCATION |
TROOPS FROM |
NAME ACCEPTED |
Montgomery, AL |
37th Division (OH, WV) |
Philip H. Sheridan (U.S. Army, Civil War) |
Charlotte, NC |
26th Division
(Northeast)
|
Nathanael Greene (Continental Army, Revolutionary War) |
Spartanburg, SC |
27th Division (NY) |
James S. Wadsworth (U.S. Volunteers, Civil War) |
Augusta, GA |
28th Division (PA) |
Winfield S. Hancock (U.S. Army, Civil War) |
Houston, TX |
33d Division (IL) |
John A. Logan (U.S. Volunteers, Civil War) |
Waco, TX |
32d Division (MI, WI) |
Arthur MacArthur Jr (U.S. Army, Philippines War) |
Naming of New Installations in 1918
Major General William J. Snow, the Chief of Field Artillery,
recommended to the chief of staff the names for two new field
artillery cantonments. Snow’s two criteria for names were that they
be of a distinguished field artilleryman and short. For one in
Kentucky, Snow chose Revolutionary War artillery officer Henry Knox,
a Massachusetts native who later became Secretary of War. For one in
North Carolina, he selected North Carolina native Braxton Bragg, who
had distinguished himself as a battery commander in the Mexican War,
resigned his U.S. Army commission in 1856, and joined the
Confederate army in 1861. The chief of staff accepted Snow’s
recommendations.
In the only known instance during World War I of the Army taking
into account public opinion, Secretary Baker accepted the
recommendations of the local chapters of the United Daughters of the
Confederacy and the Rotary Club to name a post in Georgia Camp
Benning after Confederate general Henry L. Benning, who had lived in
the area.
Postwar Status of Posts Named for Confederate Officers
In the period between the world wars, the Army retained only two of
the World War I camps named for Confederate officers. Now the site
of the Infantry School, Camp Benning became Fort Benning in 1922.
Camp Bragg continued as a site for field artillery training and
equipment testing, and in 1922 it became Fort Bragg.
The Army closed Camp Lee after the war and the property reverted to
the Commonwealth of Virginia, which used it mainly as a game
preserve. In 1940, the War Department reinstated control of the
property and built a second Camp Lee on it. Now the location of the
Quartermaster School, the Army kept Camp Lee open after World War II
and in 1950 marked its status as a permanent installation by
changing its name to Fort Lee. Camp Gordon closed after World War I
and a new facility elsewhere in Georgia would receive that name in
World War II. Camp Beauregard was turned over to the state of
Louisiana for use by its National Guard. During World War II,
Louisiana returned the camp to the federal government. After the
war, the Army again turned it over to Louisiana. The Army closed
Camp Wheeler in 1919 and returned the land to its original owners.
In 1940, the Army reopened Camp Wheeler by leasing most of the land
it used in World War I; it closed the camp after World War II and
returned the land to its owners.
World War II
War Department Policy
Army Regulation 210-10, dated 1 July 1939, established a formal
policy on naming installations, but stated only that “All military
posts will be named by the Secretary of War.” In 1937, however, the
War Department had stated informally that those honored should be
distinguished deceased persons “who either were born in or were
associated prominently with the state in which the post is located.”
In March 1942, Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall
indicated an intention to amend AR 210-10 to give the commanders of
the service’s three major commands (Army Ground Forces, Army Air
Forces, and Army Service Forces) “the principal voice in the
selection.” This requirement, however, does not appear to ever have
been formalized. A memo of 5 December 1942 further described the
“practice” of the Army War College’s Historical Section recommending
“several possible names” for higher authority to choose from.
Another memo the same month summarized the factors for selecting
names, which were much like those in World War I, except that it
reiterated the 1937 policy that the person should be “identified
with the locality of the post by birth or distinguished service.”
The memo also noted that enlisted soldiers were eligible for the
honor. The World War I policy of taking into account the home region
of the troops who occupied the post was no longer used, even during
the mobilization of the National Guard in 1940–1941.
New Installations Named for Confederate Officers
Because the Army was much larger in this conflict, it established
many more posts than it had in World War I. It also established them
over a much longer period, naming new posts as they came into
existence rather than in one large batch, so each selection had its
own story. In accordance with the War Department’s policy, camps in
the south generally were named after southerners, though not all
were Confederate officers. Eight major camps received Confederate
names.
Camp Polk: In 1940, the Army decided to build a camp in
Louisiana. The Historical Section recommended naming it after
Leonidas Polk, who had been an Episcopal bishop in Louisiana
before joining the Confederate army. The General Staff’s G–3
accepted this recommendation and the deputy chief of staff
approved it.
A.P. Hill Military Reservation: The Historical Section in
1941 suggested three names for a new field training and artillery
firing area in Virginia. The G–3 struck one name because an
existing fort had the same surname and a second name because that
officer was not from Virginia. The third name was A. P. Hill, a
native Virginian who resigned his U.S. Army commission to join the
Confederate army. The G–3 recommend A.P. Hill and the chief of
staff approved this name.
Camp Gordon: In June 1941, the Historical Section provided
three names for a new installation near Augusta, Georgia. All were
Confederate officers. The G–3 selected John B. Gordon as the name
for this post for the same reasons the War Department in 1917 had
named a post in Georgia for him: Gordon was a “distinguished and
popular native-born soldier and statesman of Georgia.”
Camp Pickett: In June 1941, the Historical Section
recommended George E. Pickett as the first choice for a new camp
in the vicinity of Eugene, Oregon. It made this recommendation on
the grounds that Pickett, while a U.S. Army officer, had “played a
dominant part in the affair at San Juan Island” and that, while
serving as a Confederate officer, his “charge at Gettysburg is
known to every American.” The Historical Section did suggest to
the G–3 that if the post in Oregon was not named for Pickett, his
name should be considered for a new installation in Virginia as he
had been born in that state. Later that year, the Historical
Section recommended and the G–3 accepted Pickett as the name for a
new camp near Blackstone, Virginia.
Camp Rucker: In 1941, the Army decided to open a camp near
Ozark, Alabama. For names, the Historical Section nominated two
Confederates and an Army lieutenant from Ozark who had been
awarded a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross in World War I.
The G–3 rejected the lieutenant because a fort in Massachusetts
already honored someone with the same last name and General James
Longstreet because he had only a slight connection to Alabama. The
G–3 recommended John Pelham, a well-known Confederate artillery
officer from Alabama, to the chief of staff. The chief of staff
did not accept this recommendation. Instead, General Marshall
directed this camp be named after Edmund M. Rucker, an obscure
Confederate cavalry officer from Tennessee. Although the
Historical Section argued other men were “more worthy and
appropriate” than Rucker, Marshall did not change his decision.
The available documents do not state Marshall’s reason for
selecting Rucker, who became a prominent industrialist after
moving to Alabama after the Civil War. However, Senator J. Lister
Hill of Alabama had suggested Rucker’s name to Marshall. Hill’s
sister had married Rucker’s son. Before becoming a senator in
1938, Hill had been in the House of Representatives, where he
chaired the committee on military affairs.
Camp Hood: Although a native of Kentucky, Confederate
General John Bell Hood considered Texas his adopted home after
lengthy service there as a U.S. Army officer. In 1861, Hood
resigned his U.S. Army commission and joined the Confederate army,
where he became famous for commanding the Texas Brigade. Hood’s
name appeared in January 1942 for a post being acquired in Texas
for the new tank destroyer command. The Historical Section also
provided G–3 three other names for consideration: (1) Maj. Gen.
Robert L. Howze, a native Texan who had been awarded the Medal of
Honor and commanded a division during World War I; (2) Capt. James
W. Fannin, an officer in the Texas Army killed in action during
the Texas Revolution; and (3) Maj. Gen. William S. Graves, a
native Texan who commanded the American Expeditionary Forces in
Siberia during World War I. There is no record of the decision
process, but War Department General Order 12, dated 6 March 1942,
formalized Hood as the selection. In August 1944, Army Ground
Forces attempted to get the name of Camp Hood changed to honor Lt.
Gen. Lesley J. McNair, its former commander, who had been killed
by friendly fire in France in July. The effort continued into
1945, with Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell, who now led Army Ground
Forces, adding his voice to the campaign. The Adjutant General
opposed it, citing among other reasons “undesirable popular and
political repercussions in the State of Texas.”
Camp Forrest: The Army in 1940 took over and greatly
expanded a Tennessee National Guard base named for Austin Peay, a
former governor of that state. General Marshall directed the name
be changed because it was not Army practice to name an
installation used by federal troops after a local politician who
did not have a distinguished military background. Because the Army
had leased Peay, he instructed the National Guard Bureau to
contact the Tennessee state authorities for their recommendations
on a new name. Furthermore, he directed that “the desires of the
State authorities will be followed unless it is found that the
name selected is unsuitable for psychological or other reasons.”
The Tennessee adjutant general recommended Nathan Bedford Forrest,
a native Tennessean whose birthplace was nearby. Despite the
notorious reputation of Forrest, a prewar slave trader and then a
founder of the Ku Klux Klan after the Civil War, the Historical
Section and the G–3 accepted this recommendation. In January 1941,
Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. William L. Bryden approved the
name change. The Chicago Defender, an African American newspaper,
took great umbrage at the name, and the Illinois legislature
attempted (without success) to get the name changed when the
state’s National Guard division reported there for training.
Camp Van Dorn: In 1942, the War Department purchased land
near Centreville, Mississippi, for training infantry divisions.
The Historical Section provided eight men, including Jefferson
Davis, for consideration in naming this camp and another camp near
Grenada, Mississippi. All had fought in the Civil War and all were
either from Mississippi or had significant service in the state
during the war. The name selected for the camp near Centreville
was Earl Van Dorn. A Mississippi native who resigned his U.S. Army
commission to join the Confederate army, Van Dorn rose to major
general before being murdered in 1863. (The camp near Grenada was
named for a Mississippi native who served as adjutant general of
the U.S. Army for most of World War I.)
New Installations in the South Not Named for Confederate
Officers
During World War II the Army named a number of posts in the south
for men who had not served in the Confederate army. The most
significant instances were:
Camp Campbell: In naming a new base straddling the
KentuckyTennessee border in early 1942, the Army rejected the
input of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the repeated
strong urging of a congressman for a Confederate officer, instead
selecting William B. Campbell. Campbell had fought in the Mexican
War, served as governor of Tennessee, and sided with the United
States during the Civil War. The congressman demanded to know the
identity of the individual responsible for the decision. The G–3
responded accurately but with bureaucratic obfuscation that the
responsibility “rests upon the Secretary of War.”
Camp Stewart: In 1940, the Army established an
antiaircraft firing center near Savannah, Georgia. The Historical
Section recommended and the G–3 agreed that the camp be named for
Sergeant William Jasper, a Continental Army soldier killed in
action at the siege of Savannah. The congressman who represented
the district in which the center was located lobbied for naming it
after Brig. Gen. Daniel Stewart. Stewart had lived in the county
in which the center was located and served in the Georgia militia
during the Revolutionary War, the Creek wars, and the War of 1812.
The chief of coast artillery, the branch responsible for
antiaircraft units, accepted the congressman’s recommendation and
the G–3 then concurred with naming the camp after Stewart.
Camp Chaffee: In August 1941, the Army named a major post
for an armored division in Arkansas after the recently deceased
father of the armored force, Maj. Gen. Adna R. Chaffee Jr, who was
a native of Kansas
Fort Leonard Wood: In 1940, the Army established the
Seventh Corps Area Training Center in Missouri. The chief of
infantry suggested that the center be named after Maj. Gen.
Leonard Wood, a native of New Hampshire and former chief of staff
of the Army. The Historical Section and the G–3 concurred in this
recommendation.
Fort Jackson: : The Army was conscious of the popular
association of certain names with the Civil War. In 1940, it took
over Camp Jackson from the South Carolina National Guard. The
installation was named for President Andrew Jackson. The
Historical Section recommended the post be renamed Fort Andrew
Jackson to avoid creating the impression that it was named for
Confederate General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Although the
G–3 agreed to redesignate the post as a fort, it did not concur in
adding the president’s first name to the post’s name.
Postwar Status of Posts Named for Confederate Officers
The Army retained Polk, A.P. Hill, Gordon, Pickett, Rucker, and
Hood. It declared Camp Van Dorn surplus in October 1945 and closed
the post. It declared Camp Forrest surplus in 1946 and closed the
installation.