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Fort Bragg 2.0: Army base reverts to its old name, but with a new namesake

www.npr.org /2025/02/11/nx-s1-5293246/hegseth-fort-bragg-liberty-name

The U.S. Army base formerly known as Fort Bragg will once again bear its old name — but this time but in honor of a new namesake.

The Fayetteville, N.C. base was originally named after the controversial Confederate general Braxton Bragg, and bore that title for a century. The Defense Department changed it to Fort Liberty in 2023 as part of a broader initiative to rename nearly a dozen military installations that had previously honored Confederate leaders.

On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memorandum changing the base's name once again, this time to Fort Roland L. Bragg.

"That's right: Bragg is back," Hegseth said as he signed the document on board a military aircraft, in a video shared by the Department of Defense (DoD).

Bragg, a private first class with the 17th Airborne Division, isn't exactly a household name. The DoD describes him as a "World War II hero who earned the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge."

Debra Sokoll, one of Bragg's daughters, told NPR on Tuesday morning that she was surprised to learn of the renaming just a few minutes earlier when another reporter called to ask about it.

Her husband, Chris Sokoll, said someone from the Army had left them a message on Monday night, but they hadn't yet returned the call.

5 comments

  • I don't really care about the Confederate thing, but there are two Fort Braggs, one a town in coastal California, and it was kind of obnoxious to have the same name on them.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Bragg%2C_California

    It's notable for Glass Beach:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_Beach_%28Fort_Bragg%2C_California%29

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Bragg

    So I kind of liked having it not be "Bragg".

    Also, if I remember correctly from the American Civil War military history I've done, Bragg (the general, not the private) didn't actually perform very well across a number of battles. Like, he was high-ranking, but I'm not sure that he'd be someone to name forts after.

    kagis

    Yeah, actually, sounds like he was outright awful, in fact.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braxton_Bragg

    At the start of the Civil War, Bragg trained soldiers in the Gulf Coast region. He was a corps commander at the Battle of Shiloh, where he launched several costly and unsuccessful frontal assaults but nonetheless was commended for his conduct and bravery.

    In June 1862, Bragg was elevated to command the Army of Mississippi (later known as the Army of Tennessee). He and Brigadier General Edmund Kirby Smith attempted an invasion of Kentucky in 1862, but Bragg retreated following a minor tactical victory at the Battle of Perryville in October. In December, he fought another battle at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the Battle of Stones River, against the Army of the Cumberland under Major General William Rosecrans. After a bloody and inconclusive battle, it ended with his retreat. After months without significant fighting, Bragg was outmaneuvered by Rosecrans in the Tullahoma Campaign in June 1863, causing him to surrender Middle Tennessee to the Union. Bragg retreated to Chattanooga but evacuated it in September as Rosecrans' troops entered Georgia. Later that month, with the assistance of Confederate forces from the Eastern Theater under James Longstreet, Bragg was able to defeat Rosecrans at the Battle of Chickamauga, the bloodiest battle in the Western Theater, and the only significant Confederate victory therein. Bragg forced Rosecrans back into Tennessee, but was criticized for the heavy casualties his army suffered and for not mounting an effective pursuit. In November, Bragg's army was routed by Major General Ulysses S. Grant in the Battles for Chattanooga and pushed back to Georgia. Confederate President Jefferson Davis subsequently relieved Bragg of command, recalling him to Richmond as his chief military advisor. Bragg briefly returned to the field as a corps commander near the war's end during the Campaign of the Carolinas.

    Bragg is generally considered among the worst generals of the Civil War.[1] Most of the battles he engaged in ended in defeat. Bragg was extremely unpopular with both the officers and ordinary men under his command, who criticized him for numerous perceived faults, including poor battlefield strategy, a quick temper, and overzealous discipline.[1] Bragg has a generally poor reputation with historians,[1] though some point towards the failures of Bragg's subordinates, especially Major General and former Bishop Leonidas Polk—a close ally of Davis and known enemy of Bragg—as more significant factors in the many Confederate defeats under Bragg's command. The losses suffered by Bragg's forces are cited as highly consequential to the ultimate defeat of the Confederate States of America.[1]