10 military bases named after Confederate generals? Only 2 named after Union generals.

Disclaimer:  The following is the product of research performed using online searches of material readily available on the internet, and may be subject to correction by those whose expertise in military history exceeds that of the author, who is at best an armchair military history buff.

Reading about the recent controversy over the ten U.S. military bases named after Confederate generals made me wonder – what about Union generals?  Referencing a list of Union generals posted online at https://www.historynet.com/union-generals, I attempted to compile a list of the bases named after them.  The results were disturbing, at best.  As nearly as I can determine, there are only two bases currently in operation – Fort Custer and Fort Meade – named after Union Generals.  That is five Confederate-named bases for each on named after a Union general.  Dozens of bases named after Union generals have been closed over the years, and many Union generals have never been honored with a facility named after them.

The fact that we continue to have a Fort Bragg, while we have no Fort Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Chamberlin, etc., suggests that the best route to military immortality is to take up arms against the United States, and to do it badly.  The full list is as follows:

Union Generals of the Civil War and U. S. Military Installation Named in Their Honor

List of Union Generals from https://www.historynet.com/union-generals

1.   Forts Still in Operation

George Armstrong Custer - Fort Custer

George Meade - Fort Meade

1. Closed Forts

Ulysses S. Grant - Fort Grant –               Closed 1905

George Mcclellan - Fort McClellan             Closed 1999.

Nathaniel Banks - Fort Nathaniel Banks        Closed 1965

William Tesumseh Sherman –

Fort Sherman (Canal Zone)                turned over to Panama 1999

Fort Sherman (Idaho)                    Closed 1900

Winfield Scott Hancock - Fort Hancock         Closed 1974

Ambrose Burnside - Fort Burnside             Closed 1948

Arthur MacArthur – Fort MacArthur           Closed 1948

George Thomas - Fort Thomas                Closed 1964

Irvin McDowell

Fort McDowell (California)                Closed 1962

Fort McDowell (Arizona) –               outpost, built 1867, closed “soon after”

Philip Sheridan - Fort Sheridan                Closed 1993

John Buford - Fort Buford                    Closed 1895

Fort Rosencrans                           Closed, transferred to U.S. Navy Dept. 1959

1. List of Union Generals Never Honored

Nathaniel Anderson

John Pope – (Pope Air Force based named after different service member.)

John Reynolds

Joseph Hooker

Abner Doubleday

Benjamin Butler

Daniel Sickles

Oliver Howard

Joshua Chamberlin