President Trump announced Tuesday that he will restore several more Army base names that originally honored Confederate military figures, undoing a renaming process ordered by Congress and completed under President Biden— though the bases will officially recognize other service members, not Confederates, going forward.
“We won a lot of battles out of those forts. It’s no time to change,” the president said in a speech at Fort Bragg, which the Trump administration renamed from Fort Liberty earlier this year. “And I’m superstitious, you know?”
Mr. Trump listed out seven Army bases that will revert to a variation of their original names. Under this process, the bases won’t be formally named after Confederates who took up arms against the U.S. during the Civil War, but instead after other service members who share similar names.
Here are the renamed bases and their new namesakes, according to an Army spokesperson:
- Fort Gordon, in Georgia: originally named after Confederate John Brown Gordon, renamed in 2023 to Fort Eisenhower after President Dwight Eisenhower — will now honor Master Sgt. Gary I. Gordon, a Medal of Honor recipient who fought in Somalia.
- Fort A.P. Hill, in Virginia: originally named after Ambrose Powell Hill, renamed in 2023 to Fort Walker after Dr. Mary Walker — will now honor three Civil War Medal of Honor recipients, Lt. Col. Edward Hill, 1st Sgt. Robert A. Pinn and Pvt. Bruce Anderson.
- Fort Hood, in Texas: originally named after John Bell Hood, renamed in 2023 to Fort Cavazos after Gen. Richard Cavazos — will now honor a World War I hero, Col. Robert B. Hood.
- Fort Lee, in Virginia: originally named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, renamed in 2023 to Fort Gregg-Adams after Lt. Gen. Arthur Gredgg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams — will now honor Pvt. Fitz Lee, commended for heroism in the Spanish-American War.
- Fort Pickett, in Virginia: originally named after George Edward Pickett, renamed in 2023 to Fort Barfoot after Tech. Sgt. Van T. Barfoot — will now honor 1st. Lt. Vernon W. Pickett, decorated for extraordinary heroism in World War II.
- Fort Polk, in Louisiana: originally named after Leonidas Polk, renamed in 2023 to Fort Johnson after Sgt. William Henry Johnson — will now honor Gen. James H. Polk, a WWII officer who later commanded U.S. Army Europe.
- Fort Rucker, in Alabama: originally named after Edmund Winchester Rucker, renamed in 2023 to Fort Novosel after Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael J. Novosel, Sr. — will now honor WWI aviator Capt. Edward W. Rucker.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration changed back the names of Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, and Fort Benning, in Georgia. The two bases were previously named after Confederates, but were renamed in recent years to Fort Liberty and Fort Moore — and then were changed back to recognize non-Confederate soldiers with the last names Bragg and Benning.
Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll will now “take immediate action” to rename the other seven bases, the Army spokesperson said in a release.
These latest renamings will unwind a process overseen by the Naming Commission, a panel that was created by Congress in the final days of the first Trump term — after lawmakers overrode Mr. Trump’s veto — and conducted most of its work during the Biden administration. The moves were part of a wider push to remove Confederate symbols that gained traction in 2020.
Joe Walsh is a senior editor for digital politics at CBS News. Joe previously covered breaking news for Forbes and local news in Boston.
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