Some here say they’ll keep calling it Pickett. Others are fine with moving on. Many say they simply haven’t given it much thought at all.
“Truly I don’t care what they call it as long as they keep it open,” said Gus Mitchell, 63, who owns Mitchell’s restaurant, a popular stop for locals in the diverse town of about 3,500 residents that is in the midst of a small growth spurt. “Do what you want to do. Keep training out there and everything will be lovely.”In addition to its combat training mission, the fort is also home to Virginia National Guard’s 183rd Regiment, the Virginia Department of Military Affairs and the U.S.
The Army dedicated Camp Pickett on July 3, 1942, 79 years to the day after Pickett’s costly loss at Gettysburg. A number of his descendants planned to be there for the ceremony according to coverage in the local paper.In the first half of the 20th century, naming military installations in the South for Confederate leaders was part of the Lost Cause effort, said Ty Seidule, a U.S. Military Academy historian and retired U.S.
“Pickett was a war criminal who summarily executed 23 U.S. Army soldiers in 1864 and then skedaddled to Canada because he was fearful of being hanged,” Seidule said. In addition to Pickett, the naming commission identified eight other bases for name changes including Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Fort Benning in Georgia and Fort Hood in Texas. It also identified Navy ships, buildings, street names and memorials at military locations across the country to be changed.
For Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia whose command includes Fort Pickett, the choice of the new name made it an easy one for the military to accept.“I’m super excited about it,” said Williams, a World War II history buff who met Barfoot once in 2000. “We had 10 names considered by the commission and they were all phenomenal choices. But the opportunity to name the installation after [Barfoot] resonates with soldiers.
Coleburn, the newspaper owner and former mayor, thinks the name change at the base has gone smoothly because the Army and the Virginia National Guard did a thorough job of informing the town and county about the process and engaging residents in every step, including soliciting suggestions for new names for the fort. Settling on Barfoot also helped, he said.
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