The Army base in Augusta will only be known as Fort Gordon for a little more than a year. On Jan. 1, 2024, it is scheduled to be renamed, Fort Eisenhower.
Fort Gordon is one of nine Army bases that were named for Confederate heroes of the Civil War that will be renamed. Another Georgia base, Fort Benning, will become Fort Moore.
The renaming of the forts is part of the Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act that requires the Army to remove any names or symbols that honor those who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. A commission was formed to narrow down the final choices from a list of people who distinguished themselves through courageous or valorous acts or a lifetime of service to the United States.
This illustration shows the names chosen for the new bases with a short biography of why the name was chosen.
Fort Gordon was originally named in 1941 for Confederate Army officer John Brown Gordon, a slave owner and staunch opponent of the government’s reconstruction policies. Eisenhower was selected for Fort Gordon’s new name from a list of 12 candidates.
Eisenhower served in World War I and rose through the ranks to become a five-star general. Among his many accomplishments was coordinating the D-Day assault against Germany on June 6, 1944, considered a turning point in World War II.
Eisenhower’s name is already on the Army hospital in Augusta. Eisenhower was also a member of Augusta National and famously had a tree named after him on the course, until it was felled by lightning a few years ago.
Among the others considered to replace Fort Gordon was Alexander Augusta, a black doctor who served during the Civil War and the first black officer buried in Arlington National Cemetery, and Charles Chibitty, a Comanche who served in the Army’s Signal Corps in World War II.
The estimated cost of switching signage and other articles bearing the Fort Gordon name to Fort Eisenhower is $580,000. The total cost for renaming all nine locations is estimated at $21 million.
