Buildings, hills honoring Confederacy on Georgia bases among items considered for renaming

Abraham Kenmore, Augusta Chronicle
·2 min read
Statue of Confederate General John Brown Gordon, namesake of Fort Gordon, outside the Georgia capital building in Atlanta on June 14, 2020. Fort Gordon is one of nine Army bases and more than 750 military assets possibly honoring the Confederacy under consideration by the Naming Commission.
Statue of Confederate General John Brown Gordon, namesake of Fort Gordon, outside the Georgia capital building in Atlanta on June 14, 2020. Fort Gordon is one of nine Army bases and more than 750 military assets possibly honoring the Confederacy under consideration by the Naming Commission.

Over 750 different buildings, roads, ships and other items at military bases across the country will be reviewed by a congressional commission to see if they commemorate the Confederacy. The list, published Wednesday, includes items at bases across Georgia, the country, and even abroad. It may be updated as the commission receives more information.

The Naming Commission was created by the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act to rename any military assets that commemorate the Confederacy or those who served in the Confederacy. In addition to nine Army bases named for Confederates, including Forts Gordon and Benning, they are also examining a range of other names on everything from signs to dams. The items listed are at Army, Navy and Air Force installations.

Read Here: DoD Inventory List: Assets for Review

At Fort Gordon, the list mostly includes places named after the base — such as Gordon Lanes Bowling Center and the fort's concrete installation sign. But it also includes Alexander Hall, named after Brigadier General Edward Porter Alexander, an Army officer who resigned to fight for the Confederacy, and a confederate monument in the cemetery. Grave markers are the one thing that the commission is not authorized to review.

At Fort Benning, a number of the items listed are also signs bearing the name of the installation but there are also at least five ridges and hills named after Confederates such as Lt. Generals James Longstreet, Jubal A. Early and John C. Pemberton, several pavers in a ranger memorial listing Confederate volunteers, and an airstrip named for Col. John Singleton Mosby of the Confederate Army.

More: Short list released of new names for Fort Gordon, other installations named for Confederates

Fort Stewart is not on the naming commission's list of installations to be renamed, but there are number of streets within it named for confederates, including Davis Avenue, after Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy and Forrest avenue after Confederate General Nathan B. Forrest, who was also the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia also has several streets named for confederates, including one named for a Savannah Militia unit, Emmett Rifles Drive.

“We will update the inventory list in collaboration with the Department of Defense, including its sub-agencies and the military branches, as we continue to identify assets within our area of consideration,” retired Adm. Michelle Howard, chair of the Naming Commission, was quoted as saying in the press release.

Part of the commission's charge is to provide a cost estimate for renaming or removing items honoring the Confederacy in their final report to Congress, due Oct. 1 of this year.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Confederate names on 750 military assets under review by commission