N.Y. Times How Ft. Rucker became For Rucker

 From an article about how defeated confederate officer's names were attached to bases, now that their names are about to be changed.

"Edmund W. Rucker

(Fort Rucker, Ala.)

Army historians describe Edmund W. Rucker as “an obscure Confederate cavalry officer from Tennessee.” He enlisted in the Confederate army as a private in 1861 and was given the rank of acting brigadier general by the time of his surrender on May 9, 1865.

With his engineering experience, Rucker was promoted quickly and helped build and man Confederate forts along the Mississippi River, according to the author Michael P. Rucker, his distant relative. Rucker also helped enforce martial law during the occupation of eastern Tennessee.

He later joined Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry force as a brigade commander, fought at the Battle of Brices Cross Roads that resulted in a decisive Confederate victory, and lost his left arm from an injury at the disastrous Confederate defeat at the Battle of Nashville — where he was captured by Union soldiers. After the war, Rucker became a railroad industrialist. He died in 1924, more than 60 years after he joined the Confederacy.

The naming of Fort Rucker appears to have been an unlikely quirk of history. There was significant debate over the naming of the base in 1942, and several more prominent candidates were rejected. But after some prodding from Senator Lister Hill, Democrat from Alabama, General George C. Marshall, the chief of staff of the Army, selected Rucker over the objections of other officers."

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