6. Military installations and units named for Robert E. Lee
Camp Lee, 25 miles south of Richmond, Virginia, was designated as a mobilization and training site for state troops in June, 1917. Between the world wars, the Commonwealth of Virginia operated the site as a game preserve. In October, 1940, the United States Army reclaimed the site, again designating it Camp Lee, as an Army receiving station and training facility. Facilities at the camp provided training to Army quartermasters and medical personnel throughout the war. Following the war, the site continued to be the Army’s primary location for training quartermasters. In 1950 Camp Lee has designated a permanent Army installation and renamed Fort Lee.
The US Navy named the Polaris ballistic missile submarine USS Robert E. Lee in 1960, in part because it was the first such vessel built in Virginia (Newport News). The submarine had a 23-year career in the United States Navy before decommissioning in 1983. The US Navy also named a guided-missile cruiser, USS Chancellorsville, after the battle considered by most scholars to be Lee’s greatest victory over the United States Army. The cruiser was one of the Ticonderoga class, all but one of which were named for famous battles involving the United States military, several from the Civil War. Only Chancellorsville reflected a battle in which the United States suffered a defeat.