Military Power

Naming Army Installations

The earliest official policy on the naming of posts and forts is found in War Department General Order Number 11, dated 8 February 1832. The order stated, “All new posts which may be hereafter established, will receive their names from the War Department, and be announced in General Orders from the Headquarters of the Army.”

At that time, both cantonment and camp designated a temporary location, while the term fort designated a permanent installation. The term post was used for any type of installation. The designation of an installation as a fort or camp was left to the discretion of division commanders (at that time the term division was used to denote a regional command such as the Division of the Pacific, the Division of the Missouri, or the Division of the Atlantic). War Department General Order Number 79, dated 8 November 1878, stated, “As the practice of designating military posts varies in the several Military Divisions, and in order to secure uniformity in this respect, Division commanders are authorized, at their discretion, to name and style all posts permanently occupied by troops, or the occupation of which is likely to be permanent, ‘Forts,’ and to style all points occupied temporarily ‘Camps’.” Additionally, the Secretary of War often delegated the authority for the actual naming of forts and camps to division and installation commanders.