The US Department of Defense has announced it will rename the nine US military bases that bear named of officers of the Confederacy.

The effort will cost the American taxpayers $62.5 million and likely begin early next year. 

On Thursday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gave the official nod of approval to put into action the final recommendations made by the renaming commission, which included recommendations to alter upward of 1,000 installations and facilities, including the nine major Army bases, that were originally named after leaders of the Confederacy.

Forts named after Confederate Generals

• Fort Benning, Georgia - established in 1909, the fort was named for Confederate Brigadier General Henry Lewis Benning, who was born on a plantation owned by his parents and took an active role in pushing for the secession of Georgia from the union
• Fort Gordon, Georgia - established in 1941, the fort was named for Confederate Major General John Brown Gordon, who, after the fall of the Confederacy, became a US Senator and Governor of Georgia
• Fort Bragg, North Carolina - established in 1918, the fort is named for Confederate General Braxton Bragg, whose many losses are cited as highly consequential to the ultimate defeat of the Confederacy
• Fort Hood, Texas - established in 1942, the fort was named for Confederate General John Bell Hood. It was originally built to test and train soldiers to use World War II tank destroyers
• Fort Rucker, Alabama - established in 1942, the fort is named for Confederate General Edmund Rucker. The fort is primarily used for flight training for US Army Aviators
• Fort Polk, Louisiana - established in 1941, the fort was named for Confederate General Leonidas Polk, who was also the first Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana and subsequently the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America
• Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia - established in 1941, the fort was named for Confederate General Ambrose Powell Hill, a native Virginian who fought in the Mexican-American war and the Seminole Wars before he joined the confederacy
• Fort Pickett, Virginia - established in 1941, fort was named for Confederate General George Pickett, who is best know for leading the futile battle offensive on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg
• Fort Lee, Virginia - established as Camp Lee in 1917, the fort was named for famed Confederate General Robert E. Lee and is located on the historic grounds where Captain John Smith established some of the first plantations along the James River in the 17th century