The M-36 Jackson was named for Stonewall Jackson, Confederate general. Creighton Abrams was famous for being a decorated tank comander in WW2. One doesn't have to be a general to have a afv named after them. Remember the SGT York? One other thing to consider. Even though most US vehicles are named for Union or non-ACW generals, many garrisons are indeed named for Confederate heroes. FT Bragg, FT Benning, FT Hood, FT Lee, FT Polk, FT A.P. Hill, FT Jackson, FT Gordon, and Camp Shelby come to mind.
Dont forget McClellan AFB (presumably named after Little Mac, who definitely did a lot for the Confederacy )
There is also FT McClellan, used to the US Army's chemical warfare center and military police center before being closed. Some will say McClellan was the best general the Confederates had. For all of McClellan's faults, he was a very good organizer and trainer. What the Army of the Potomac was able to accomplish later in the war can partly be attributed to McClellan.
Abrams was a general in Vietnam. See my "Most useless AFV Of All Time" thread re SGT York. Who named the "Jackson" ?? A couple of people have already said that the Pershing was the first to be named be the Yanks.
Aren't those names nicknames or honorific only , for people use the "proper" designation remains some alphanumerical soup much loved by the supply sections ? .
In fact, reading through the US catalogue of army equipment yesterday, the description of the Medium Tank M4 mention that it is named 'General Sherman' by the British.
And Germany went further than America, and the Zulu went further than Germany, and the Shona went further than the Zulu, and...
I didn’t see if anyone posted this but I always thought this was a good one Abrams tank in Iraq “operation we got wrong country”
Chieftain's Hatch addressed this topic. Go to the 5 minute mark. The Chieftain's Hatch: What's in a Name? The Chieftain's Hatch: What's in a Name? Part 2
DA Memo 705-3, dated 21 July 1959 first regulated the assignment of names to items of Army equipment and was superseded in October 1963 by the first Army Regulation on the subject, AR 705-14 Assigning Popular Names to Major Items of Equipment, which proscribed “policies, responsibilities, criteria, and categories for the selection, coordination and approval of popular names which may be assigned to major items of equipment”.