Columbus group fights in federal court to have Confederate soldier’s name on memorial

The National Ranger Memorial Foundation has taken another step in its fight to reinstate the name of a Confederate officer to the National Ranger Memorial at Fort Moore.

A motion hearing was held Thursday in a federal courtroom in Columbus in the ongoing lawsuit the NRMF filed against the U.S. Department of Defense to reinstate the name of Col. John Mosby, a former Confederate soldier, to the ranger memorial.

Counsel for the DOD entered a motion to dismiss the NRMF’s second amended complaint, according to court documents.

The Fort Moore garrison commander directed the foundation to remove Mosby’s name from the memorial and hall of fame, the Ledger-Enquirer reported in June 2023.

This was based on a September 2022 final report from the DOD Naming Commission recommending the removal of names associated with the Confederacy from U.S. military assets, the Ledger-Enquirer reported in November 2024.

Jonathan Corley, attorney representing the National Ranger Memorial Foundation, argued that while Mosby’s name did appear in the body of a report recommending his name be removed from the memorial, it was not included in an appendix of that report, which contained a list of assets recommended to be changed.

That report was compiled by a commission responsible for identifying DOD assets commemorating the Confederacy and/or those or those who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America, according to court arguments.

U.S. District Judge Clay Land asked Corley if he was arguing that the inconsistency between the report body and the appendix was causing ambiguity. Corley said it was.

Corley argued that the statute required Mosby’s removal from the memorial be included in the list.

Sarah Suwanda, attorney representing the Department of Defense, argued the report is not ambiguous and the statute does not say the appendix is the list.

A document previously submitted by counsel for the defendants, which included the defense’s arguments, claims the DOD defendants acted pursuant to a congressional mandate. That required the removal of any names from DOD assets that commemorated those who voluntarily served in the Confederate States of America.

The document says Part I of the Naming Commission’s final report to Congress recommended the removal of Mosby’s name from display on the Ranger Memorial.

The document says appendix F to part I does not include the Mosby paver or inscription on the Ranger Hall of Fame, both of which they claim are located within the ranger memorial, previously identified as for removal in the body of Part I. However, the name “John S. Mosby” is identified for removal from various DOD assets seven other times, the document says.

Land said he would issue a written order.