# Confederate base names going away **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 11, 2020, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855 "2020-12-11T20:23:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/81 "2023-05-15T21:04:25Z")
Fort Duane Allman. Heck, Fort Both Allman Brothers. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/82 "2023-05-15T21:11:56Z")
Fort Thomas - after a Virginian, “the Rock of Chickamauga,” who remained loyal to the U.S. and then never lost a battle: > **[George Henry Thomas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Henry_Thomas)** > > George Henry Thomas (July 31, 1816 – March 28, 1870) was an American general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and one of the principal commanders in the Western Theater. > Thomas served in the Mexican–American War and later chose to remain with the U.S. Army for the Civil War as a Southern Unionist, despite his heritage as a Virginian (whose home state would join the Confederate States of America). He won one of the first Union victories in the war, at Mill Springs in Kentucky, an... ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/83 "2023-05-15T21:12:10Z")
Fort Dolly (Just because Fort Parton is cumbersome-sounding). ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/84 "2023-05-15T21:16:25Z")
Fort King? Fort Carter? Fort Thomas? Fort Young? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/85 "2023-05-15T21:31:54Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Yeah, Fort Liberty is lame. Should have named it Fort Sherman or Fort Chamberlain or Fort Reynolds or… Fort Mr. Peabody & Sherman! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/86 "2023-05-15T21:32:44Z")
Hell, I’d enlist today if I thought I could end up at Fort Free Bird! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/87 "2023-05-15T22:13:24Z")
Obviously I took the post I was replying to as subtle sarcasm about the South still only dubiously being interested in being part of the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/88 "2023-05-16T00:54:59Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Obviously I took the post I was replying to as subtle sarcasm about the South still only dubiously being interested in being part of the USA I know. But it’s a bit of a sore spot that the rest of the country thinks a) that African-Americans aren’t Southerners, and 2) that all white Southerners have pointed hoods and MAGA hats in our closets. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/89 "2023-05-16T01:03:43Z")
Yeah. That was pretty insensitive of me. You deserve better. I’m sorry to have been offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/90 "2023-05-16T01:54:56Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Yeah. That was pretty insensitive of me. You deserve better. I’m sorry to have been offensive No worries. I’ve seen enough of your posts to know you’re one of the board’s good guys. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/91 "2023-05-16T18:37:37Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Fort Thomas - after a Virginian, “the Rock of Chickamauga,” who remained loyal to the U.S. and then never lost a battle: > > [George Henry Thomas - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Henry_Thomas) There already was one - in fact, the Kentucky town it was in still bears the name Fort Thomas. Apparently, it was last active in 1964. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/92 "2023-05-16T22:16:21Z")
Ah, yes, thanks - time to bring back the name for an actual base again, I’d say! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/93 "2023-06-13T13:09:06Z")
The next one - and a worthy honoree: > **[Fort Polk to be renamed Fort Johnson to honor World War I hero | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/13/politics/fort-polk-johnson-renamed-us-army/index.html)** > > The US Army on Tuesday will officially rename Louisiana’s Fort Polk military base, the latest US military installation to be redesignated as part of an effort to strip Confederate leaders of the honor. > **[Henry Johnson (World War I soldier)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Johnson_(World_War_I_soldier))** > > William Henry Johnson (circa July 15, 1892 – July 1, 1929), commonly known as Henry Johnson, was a United States Army soldier who performed heroically in the first African American unit of the United States Army to engage in combat in World War I. On watch in the Argonne Forest on May 14, 1918, he fought off a German raid in hand-to-hand combat, killing multiple German soldiers and rescuing a fellow soldier while suffering 21 wounds, in an action that was brought to the nation's attention b In ... ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/94 "2023-06-14T14:57:11Z")
And in related news, [Jefferson Davis high school](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Davis_High_School_(Montgomery,_Alabama)) is expected to change its name to JAG high school at the start of the the 2023-4 school year. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/95 "2023-06-14T23:46:33Z")
Psyched for the Henry Johnson renaming. He has some hometown-hero status in Albany NY, with a street named after him and a historical marker, but he was a seriously badass combat soldier (the best kind of badass, the kind that modestly disclaim “hero” status for themselves) and deserves much more recognition. He died far too young, probably partly due to having been severely wounded in battle, and was never properly honored by his own country in his lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/96 "2023-06-19T14:53:13Z")
Not a base, but a good name-change just the same, effective March 1: > **[USS Robert Smalls](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Robert_Smalls)** > > USS Robert Smalls (CG-62) is a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser built during the Cold War for the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1989, the warship was originally named USS Chancellorsville for the American Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville. In March 2023, she was renamed for Robert Smalls, a former slave who freed himself and others by commandeering a Confederate transport ship. > Until 30 December 2011, the ship was operationally part of Carrier Strike Group Seven. In 2010 she w... ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2023, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/97 "2023-06-19T15:14:37Z")
Renaming Ft. Bragg to “Ft. Liberty” is a regrettable decision imo. Just some anodyne committee-pleasing bullshit. You know what would have worked for Ft. Bragg? Fort [Winters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Winters), decorated paratrooper immortalized in _Band of Brothers_, also would have served as a motivational pun “this post is for winners (Winters).” ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/98 "2023-06-19T16:51:50Z")
Not bad at all. Though would have rather had Smalls been the namesake of a new-launched ship, as the remaining Ticonderogas are coming up to end-of-life-cycle as they turn 40. And of course already we got a few contestants for the upcoming election promising to revert the base renamings. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2023, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/99 "2023-06-20T11:28:29Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Personally, I think that the movement to rename Fort Hood as “Fort Benavidez” after Roy Benavidez, a Vietnam MOH winner, native Texan and Mexican-American is the way to go. The guy was a certified bad-ass- after the battle that he got his MOH in, they thought he was dead because of all his wounds, until he spit in the face of the doctor zipping him into the body bag. Wow, incredible soldier. Amazing story. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855/100 "2023-06-22T14:19:29Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Not a base, but a good name-change just the same, effective March 1 > > [USS Robert Smalls - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Robert_Smalls) I’m surprised that there’s not already a ship named for him. I read his story years ago, in a folklore collection. Dude straight up stole a Confederate Navy ship out of Charleston Harbor. Stopped to pick up his wife and children, and those of the other crewmen with him. Then he put on the captain’s coat and hat, and nodded to the harbor guard as he sailed the ship out towards the Union blockade. Man had ice water in his veins. He worked for the Navy for the duration of the war, and helped convince President Lincoln to authorize the enlistment of Black troops in the U.S military. After the war, he became a South Carolina state representative, senator, and US Congressman; he helped author legislation that created the first free, compulsory public education system in the U.S. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confederate-base-names-going-away/927855.md?page=6)