A Question of Treason? Confederate Generals and U.S. Army Post Names

Abstract

The naming of U.S. Army posts after Confederate generals is vital in understanding the process of reconciliation after the Civil War. The honoring of Confederate generals in such a manner was made attractive not only by a desire for sectional reconciliation, but by an understanding of the Civil War shaped by the Lost Cause. In choosing to name Army posts after those some might considered traitors, U.S. Armyleaders not only reflected national attitudes toward the Civil War, but shaped that attitude as well. Additionally, one must ask how the continued memorial to the Confederate cause as illustrated in U.S. Army installation names continues to influence the perception of Americans in regard to the Civil War, why it was fought, and what it achieved.