When the U.S. Army announced on June 10 that it was changing the names of seven bases back to their earlier designations, it skipped over one major milestone: Fort Lee in Virginia will now be the first base to be named after a Buffalo Soldier.
The bases reverted back to their names, which had previously honored Confederate leaders, although with new, non-Confederate namesakes. In the case of Fort Lee, rather than Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general, it’s now named for Pvt. Fitz Lee, a Buffalo Soldier. Fitz Lee fought in the Spanish-American War and earned the Medal of Honor for his actions at Tayabacoa, Cuba, when he helped rescue trapped soldiers.
Although the biography released by the Army noted he was a Buffalo Soldier, the Army’s announcement did not highlight that this is the first time a base is named for someone who was a part of the units — four regiments of Black soldiers formed after the Civil War, who served notably during the wars on the western frontier and in the Spanish-American War.
Cale Carter, a historian and the director of exhibitions at the Buffalo Soldiers Museum in Houston, Texas, said that he was taken aback by the choice of the base’s namesake, in part because Fitz Lee is not widely known, and his service happened in a part of the Buffalo Soldiers’ history that isn’t largely focused on.
“They went about with someone who had a Medal of Honor, but from a conflict you don’t see much coverage of,” he said.
Two years ago, the Army base that is once again known as Fort Lee was one of several U.S. military installations, buildings, and roads renamed in 2022 and 2023, following the recommendations of a special committee. The actions came from a wide push to remove names honoring members of the Confederacy, who violently opposed the Union. Many of the selected names instead honored notable soldiers and Army leaders, including Hal Moore and Medal of Honor recipient William Henry Johnson.
Fort Lee was renamed to Fort Gregg-Adams, honoring both Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams, Black service members who joined during a time when the Army was segregated. Gregg would eventually become the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics for the Army while Adams commanded the 6888th Central Postal Directory during World War II. At the time, it was the first Army base to be named for African Americans.
The reversion to Fort Lee strips the names of Gregg and Adams, but it also creates another milestone.
Buffalo Soldiers
The Buffalo Soldiers, as they came to be known, were first formed in 1866 in the aftermath of the Civil War. They initially started with cavalry units — the 9th and 10th Cavalry — and soon infantry regiments followed, formalized as the 24th and 25th Infantry Regiments. They found themselves active on the American western frontier, working on infrastructure as the Army pushed west and fighting skirmishes and small battles against Native Americans who resisted the expansion. The exact origin of the nickname “Buffalo Soldiers” isn’t clear, but it is widely believed to come from their actions fighting on the plains. However, as the American reach in the Western Hemisphere expanded, the soldiers from the regiments soon found themselves taking part in actions in Cuba, the Philippines and Mexico. It was then that the soldiers found themselves up against formal military forces. In Cuba, they took part in the Battle of San Juan Hill.
“When you look at the Spanish-American War, you start seeing these regiments get exposed to the wider public and gain more recognition,” Carter said. “They’re proving their performance under fire.”
The Buffalo Soldier regiments themselves did not go overseas to join the American forces fighting in World War I. However, several of the veterans from those wars were brought in as non-commissioned officers for the newly formed 92nd and 93rd Infantry divisions that did, Carter said. The 92nd Infantry Division, which fought in both World Wars, gained the nickname “The Buffalos,” drawing on the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers. The 25th Infantry Regiment would take part in the Pacific Theater of World War II, nearly 80 years after the initial Buffalo Soldier units were first raised. The term Buffalo Soldiers stuck around well into the 20th century. The last Buffalo Soldier, Robert Dixon, died in 2024 at the age of 103. Several monuments and markers at U.S. Army installations are named for the units.
The once-again Fort Lee, located in Prince George County, Virginia, is a logistics hub for the U.S. Army. It’s the home to the Army Combined Arms Support Command and several sustainment and transportation-related schools.
Pvt. Fitz Lee
There are limited details on Fitz Lee’s early life, but according to the National Park Service, Fitz Lee was born in Dinwiddie County, Virginia in June 1866, one year after the end of the Civil War. He joined the Army’s 10th Cavalry as the United States found itself at war with Spain in the Philippines and the Caribbean.
Lee went to Cuba. In 1898, he was part of a group of 10th Cavalry soldiers selected for a mission to get behind Spanish lines to connect with and resupply Cuban rebels. That is how Lee and other soldiers found themselves on the USS Florida on June 30, 1898, landing in Tayabacoa, Cuba. They ran into a Spanish blockhouse and were forced to retreat, but several American and Cuban fighters were left wounded.
Four attempts to get to the trapped soldiers failed, with each party from the Florida falling back in the face of Spanish fire. A fifth rescue party was formed, with four soldiers of the 10th Cavalry volunteering. Lee, Pvt. Dennis Bell, Sgt. William H. Thompkins and Cpl. George H. Wanton went ashore with 2nd Lt. George Ahern. They succeeded in surprising the enemy, rescuing the captives and escaping back to the ship. For their actions, the four enlisted soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor. They were the last Black soldiers to receive it outright for decades, rather than be awarded it years later via an ungraded award.
Lee “[v]oluntarily went ashore in the face of the enemy and aided in the rescue of his wounded comrades; this after several previous attempts had been frustrated,” his Medal of Honor citation reads.
The four enlisted soldiers each received the Medal of Honor for their actions in the following year. Lee, his health worsening after his time in Cuba, was at a hospital at Fort Bliss, Texas. He received a medical discharge from the Army on July 5. He moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, but his health continued to decline, with Lee eventually going blind. He died Sept. 14, 1899 and was buried at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. The exact illness isn’t known, but it was at a time when more soldiers died from illness than combat, Carter noted.
Alongside Fitz Lee, two other Black soldiers are now namesakes to the renamed bases. 1st Sgt. Robert A. Pinn and Pvt. Bruce Anderson, who provided part of the name for Fort A.P. Hill. Both fought in the Civil War and also earned the Medal of Honor for their actions fighting for the Union.
Carter hopes that with the new designation, the Army base will have an education element that can teach current soldiers not just about Lee but also the Buffalo Soldiers and their legacy. Lee, despite his early death after the war, does have photographs, but many decorated Buffalo Soldiers, particularly from the frontier conflicts, have limited biographies and information, Carter said, leaving them not particularly well known.
“Hopefully this will drive more interest in [Lee],” he said.
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