President Trump, during a speech at Fort Bragg, N.C., said on Tuesday that he would restore the names of all Army bases that were named for Confederate generals but were ordered changed by Congress in the waning days of his first administration.
His move skirts the law mandating the removal of Confederate symbols from the military through the same maneuver used to restore the name of Fort Bragg, which was briefly renamed Fort Liberty. In a statement, the Army said it would “take immediate action” to restore the old names of the bases originally honoring Confederates, but the base names would instead honor other American soldiers with similar names and initials.
For example, Fort Eisenhower in Georgia, honoring President Dwight D. Eisenhower — who led the D-Day landings during World War II — would revert to the name Fort Gordon, once honoring John Brown Gordon, the Confederate slave owner and suspected Ku Klux Klan member. This time around, however, the Army said the base would instead honor Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, who fought in the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia.
Mr. Trump, however, contradicted that explanation in his announcement, at one point saying that the Army would be “restoring” the name of one Army base in Virginia — Fort Gregg-Adams — to “Fort Robert E. Lee,” previously named for the commander of the Confederate army. The Army said in its statement that the base would be renamed to honor Pvt. Fitz Lee, a member of the all-Black Buffalo Soldiers who was awarded a Medal of Honor after serving in the Spanish-American War.
Mr. Trump made the announcement as he took a victory lap for the renaming of the Army installation at Fort Bragg, N.C., which had been originally named for Braxton Bragg, the Confederate general. Fort Bragg was renamed to Fort Liberty after Congress moved to strip the base of its Confederate name in 2020, mandating a new one.
“Can you believe they changed that name in the last administration for a little bit?” Mr. Trump asked, as soldiers in the crowd loudly booed. “Fort Bragg is in. That’s the name. And Fort Bragg it shall always remain. That’s never going to be happening again.”
Delivering a campaign-style speech surrounded by hundreds of Army troops, Mr. Trump sought to turn the page on what was an embarrassing political defeat late in his first term. An overwhelming majority of Congress — Democrats and Republicans — overrrode his veto amid the fallout of protests after the murder of George Floyd to pass a bill that included a provision to rename the nine Army bases honoring Confederate generals.
Those bases were ultimately renamed for people who “embody the best of the United States Army,” according to the naming commission that recommended the initial changes. They included decorated officers, enlisted troops who survived harrowing trials in battle, and one civilian: Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War surgeon and the only woman ever awarded a Medal of Honor.
One of the officers, Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley, was honored by Congress earlier this year, with Speaker Mike Johnson presenting an award for the Six Triple Eight — the only all-Black, all-female Army battalion to serve in Europe during World War II — to her descendants.
If Mr. Trump’s effort to again rename the bases is successful, all of their names will be struck.
The original naming of the nine Army bases was part of a movement to glorify the Confederacy and advance the Lost Cause myth that the Civil War was fought over states’ rights and not slavery.
Mr. Trump and other conservatives had raged against the name changes, which were finalized under the Biden administration, arguing that “wokeness” was softening the military and wiping away important elements of American tradition and heritage. Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly defended monuments honoring Confederates, vowed during the 2024 campaign to revert the name of Fort Bragg to honor Braxton Bragg, who was widely considered by his fellow Confederates and many historians to have been a poor commander.
Mr. Trump’s pledge was brought to fruition in March, but with a twist that seemed both a rewriting of history and an internet troll. Fort Liberty again became Fort Bragg, not in honor of the Confederate general but in memory of Pvt. Roland L. Bragg, a previously obscure infantryman who had served at Fort Bragg and fought in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.
Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, announced a similar name change shortly after that appeared intended to sidestep the law banning the honoring of Confederates: Fort Moore — renamed in 2023 for Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore and his wife, Julia — would again be called Fort Benning. Instead of honoring Henry L. Benning, a Confederate and white supremacist, the base would be named for Cpl. Fred G. Benning, who served during World War I.
Another name change by the Army on Tuesday appeared particularly tortured to fit the old name while still ostensibly honoring different soldiers: Fort Walker, named for the Civil War surgeon, would be renamed again to Fort A.P. Hill. That base was originally named to honor Ambrose Powell Hill, a Confederate officer who was killed late in the war. The Army said on Tuesday that the base would be renamed “Fort Anderson-Pinn-Hill” to honor Lt. Col. Edward Hill, First Sgt. Robert A. Pinn and Pvt. Bruce Anderson who fought for the United States during the Civil War.
