Fort Benning is being renamed because a 2021 federal law required the Pentagon to strip Confederate names from military property, and the Georgia installation had been named since 1918 for Confederate General Henry L. Benning. The base became Fort Moore in May 2023. Then, in March 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reversed course and restored the Fort Benning name by assigning it to a different person: Corporal Fred G. Benning, a World War I soldier who was not a Confederate. The short answer to why Fort Benning is being renamed is that it has now been renamed twice in two years, first to comply with the law and then to work around it.
Who Henry L. Benning Was
The original namesake was a Columbus, Georgia lawyer and state supreme court justice who became one of the South’s loudest advocates for secession and slavery. At the 1850 Nashville Convention, Benning introduced resolutions defending slavery and affirming a state’s right to secede. He chaired Georgia’s delegation at the 1860 Democratic Convention, led a walkout of Southern delegates, and helped draft Georgia’s Ordinance of Secession. As an envoy to Virginia’s secession convention, he argued explicitly that leaving the Union was the only way to preserve slavery.1New Georgia Encyclopedia. Henry L. Benning (1814-1875)2Equal Justice Initiative. Fort Benning, Georgia
He then commanded the 17th Georgia Infantry, was promoted to brigadier general, and fought at Antietam, Gettysburg, and Chickamauga before surrendering with Confederate forces at Appomattox in 1865.3Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Who Was Henry Benning, Namesake of Fort Benning in Columbus When the Army established an installation near Columbus in 1918, the local Rotary Club requested that it carry Benning’s name, adopting the label a group of Confederate veterans had already used for a 1895 memorial camp.2Equal Justice Initiative. Fort Benning, Georgia The base kept his name for more than a century.
The 2021 Law That Forced the Change
Congress included a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 requiring the Department of Defense to remove “names, symbols, displays, monuments and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America” from its property within three years.4University of North Texas Digital Library. Naming Commission Final Report5Politico. Pentagon Confederate Name Bases6Government Executive. Trump Vetoes Defense Policy Bill Over Base Names
The law created an eight-member Naming Commission with a $2 million budget and an October 2022 deadline. Over 20 months, the commission collected roughly 33,000 public responses and recommended new names for nine Army installations, Fort Benning among them.5Politico. Pentagon Confederate Name Bases7Politico. Trump Army Names Confederate
The 2023 Rename to Fort Moore
On May 11, 2023, the Army held a ceremony at Doughboy Stadium and redesignated the installation Fort Moore, honoring Lieutenant General Harold “Hal” Moore and his wife, Julia Moore. Hal Moore led American troops at the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965. Julia Moore pushed the military to end its practice of delivering death notifications by cab driver, and her advocacy led to lasting reforms in family support programs. The couple is buried at the installation’s cemetery.8Georgia Recorder. Fort Benning, Briefly Fort Moore, Is Fort Benning Again9Good Morning America. Georgia’s Fort Benning Renamed Fort Moore
The Naming Commission estimated the changeover at all nine bases would cost about $21 million, with Fort Benning’s share just under $5 million for signs, water towers, hospital doors, airfield markings, and memorial pavers.10Stars and Stripes. Army Bases Confederate Generals Renaming
Hegseth’s 2025 Reversal
The Fort Moore name lasted less than two years. On March 3, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum returning the base to Fort Benning. To stay within the law prohibiting Confederate names, he assigned the name to a different person entirely: Army Corporal Fred G. Benning, a World War I soldier who earned the Distinguished Service Cross.11U.S. Army. Hegseth Restores Fort Moore to Fort Benning in Honor of WWI Soldier
Corporal Benning served in the Machine-Gun Company of the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division. On October 9, 1918, during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive near Exermont, France, his platoon commander was killed and two senior noncommissioned officers were disabled. Benning, then 18, took command and led the remaining 20 men through heavy fire to their assigned position on Hill 240. He was born on January 12, 1900, and died on May 17, 1974.12Military Times. Fred G. Benning
Hegseth’s memorandum called Corporal Benning “the living embodiment of the Infantryman’s Creed” and directed the Secretary of the Army to find another way to honor Hal and Julia Moore.13AUSA. Fort Moore Renamed Fort Benning for WWI Infantryman Hegseth used the same technique a month earlier at Fort Bragg, attributing that name to World War II paratrooper Private First Class Roland Bragg rather than to Confederate General Braxton Bragg.14U.S. Senate, Office of Senator Reed. Reed Denounces Hegseth’s Order to Rename Fort Liberty to Fort Bragg By July 2025, all nine bases the Naming Commission had renamed had been reverted using the same approach.15NPR. Pete Hegseth Restoring Names of Army Bases First Named After Confederate Generals
Is the Workaround Legal?
The Pentagon says yes. The FY 2020 and FY 2021 NDAAs prohibit naming Defense Department assets after anyone who served in the Confederacy or after Confederate battlefield victories, and the redesignated bases are now formally named for people who did not serve in the Confederacy.14U.S. Senate, Office of Senator Reed. Reed Denounces Hegseth’s Order to Rename Fort Liberty to Fort Bragg
Critics say the approach honors the letter of the law and defies its spirit. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island called the moves a “cynical maneuver” that disregards the Naming Commission’s work.14U.S. Senate, Office of Senator Reed. Reed Denounces Hegseth’s Order to Rename Fort Liberty to Fort Bragg Ty Seidule, the retired Army brigadier general who served as vice chair of the Naming Commission, said Hegseth “undid all of that work with a stroke of a pen” and chose “surname over service.”16Hamilton College. Confederate Monuments, Hegseth, Ty Seidule, Army Bases NPR reported that in one case the Pentagon identified three different soldiers who shared the surname “Hill” to justify restoring the name Fort A.P. Hill.15NPR. Pete Hegseth Restoring Names of Army Bases First Named After Confederate Generals At a June 2025 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Hegseth said the redesignations stayed within “the limits of what Congress allowed us to do” while also acknowledging “there is a legacy, a connection” for veterans tied to the older names.17The Guardian. Pete Hegseth Fort Bragg Fort Benning Confederates
Where Things Stand Now
As of 2026, the installation is officially Fort Benning, designated for Corporal Fred G. Benning.11U.S. Army. Hegseth Restores Fort Moore to Fort Benning in Honor of WWI Soldier18Ledger-Enquirer. Local Leaders, Politicians, Veterans React to Fort Benning Name Change19WTVM. Local Leaders, Politicians, Veterans React to Fort Benning Name Change
Congress has moved to push back. In July 2025, the House Armed Services Committee passed an amendment by Representative Marilyn Strickland of Washington that would bar the Pentagon from spending funds to rename installations in honor of Confederate figures. It passed by one vote, with Republican Representatives Don Bacon of Nebraska and Derek Schmidt of Kansas joining Democrats.20Roll Call. Senate, House NDAAs Address Confederate Military Names The Senate’s version of the defense bill, as of mid-2026, would overrule Hegseth only for the three bases in Virginia, though Georgia’s Democratic senators have proposed adding the state’s two installations. Lawmakers on both sides expect that President Trump would veto any final bill requiring the removal of Confederate names and that Congress would lack the votes to override.21Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Congress Again Moves to Remove Confederate Names From Military Bases
The Moore family has objected publicly. Steve Moore, a son of Hal and Julia Moore, called the Pentagon’s tactic of keeping the original base names while swapping the honoree a “horrible work-around to preserve the history of the Confederacy.”22U.S. House, Office of Rep. Strickland. Congress Moves to Counter Hegseth on Base Names That Evoke Confederacy David Moore, who had spoken at the 2023 renaming ceremony, publicly asked Hegseth to keep the Fort Moore name after reports of the reversal emerged, arguing the base embodied “everything that the SecDef finds valuable: honor, integrity, character, selfless service.”23WRBL. Hal and Julia Moore’s Son on Keeping Fort Moore Name Whether any part of Hegseth’s action is undone through the next defense authorization remains an open question.