Why the Descendants of Confederate Generals Are Happy to See Their Names Go

As the Senate prepares to debate renaming military bases, we called living family members of the generals. Here's what they said.

For one group of Americans, the raging debate over the monuments and military bases honoring the men who fought to preserve slavery during the Civil War is uniquely personal: their descendants.

The dispute, which has become one of the most heated cultural and political flashpoints following protests over racial inequality, lands in Congress this week. The Senate is taking up bipartisan legislation to require the Pentagon to erase from every slab of granite and the gates of every garrison the names of Confederate officers, including the names of 10 Army bases that stretch across the South from Virginia to Texas.

President Donald Trump has said he opposes such a move, and several Republican senators have vowed to try to stop it—including one who declared that the effort “smacks of the cancel culture the left wants to impose on the nation.” On Tuesday night, Trump tweeted: “I will Veto the Defense Authorization Bill if the Elizabeth 'Pocahontas' Warren (of all people!) Amendment, which will lead to the renaming (plus other bad things!) of Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, and many other Military Bases from which we won Two World Wars, is in the Bill!”

Most of the general public seems ambivalent about the fate of these symbols, with a recent POLITICO/Morning Consult poll showing that a significant majority believes the bases should be left alone, or simply doesn’t know what to do about them. Those whose family ties have been a historical curiosity for most of their lives now find themselves witnessing a nationwide argument that pertains to them, yet they have no special influence over.

POLITICO tracked down 16 relatives of eight Confederate military leaders who are memorialized with military bases or whose names adorn other prominent barracks or facilities. Most of these relatives have said little if anything publicly about how they view their forebears’ legacy. They are a diverse group—politically and geographically, if not racially, hailing from North, South, East and West. They are teachers, scientists, journalists, military veterans, financial advisers and a retired yoga and surfing instructor.