The Pentagon Barracks, also known as the Old United States Barracks, is a complex of buildings located at the corner of State Capitol Drive and River Road in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

, in the grounds of the state capitol. The site was used by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, French,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

, and

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and was part of the short-lived Republic of West Florida. During its use as a military post the site has been visited by such notable figures as

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

, Robert E. Lee,

George Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, ...

, Jefferson Davis, and

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

French, British and Spanish fort

Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French ...

visited the area circa 1700. France retained the Baton Rouge site until the British took control in 1763. In 1779, during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, the British erected a dirt

Fort New Richmond Fort New Richmond was built by the British in 1779 on the east bank of the Mississippi River in what was later to become Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Spanish took control of the fort in 1779 and renamed it Fort San Carlos. Revolutionary War The ...

on the banks of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

Bernardo de Gálvez Bernardo Vicente de Gálvez y Madrid, 1st Count of Gálvez (23 July 1746 – 30 November 1786) was a Spanish military leader and government official who served as colonial governor of Spanish Louisiana and Cuba, and later as Viceroy of New Sp ...

, colonial governor of

Louisiana (New Spain) Spanish Louisiana ( es, link=no, la Luisiana) was a governorate and administrative district of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1762 to 1801 that consisted of a vast territory in the center of North America encompassing the western basin of t ...

, arrived on 20 September 1779 and found three hundred British troops garrisoning Fort New Richmond. In the

Battle of Baton Rouge (1779) The Battle of Baton Rouge was a brief siege during the Anglo-Spanish War that was decided on September 21, 1779. Baton Rouge was the second British outpost to fall to Spanish arms during Bernardo de Gálvez's march into British West Florida. Ba ...

, engineers under Spanish Governor Gálvez quickly constructed a siege line, enabling the Spanish troops to shell Fort Richmond; the British surrendered the next day. The Spanish garrisoned the fortification and renamed it Fort San Carlos.

Republic of West Florida

American and remaining British settlers in Louisiana resisted Spanish control and rebelled in 1810 to establish the Republic of West Florida. They flew their Bonnie Blue Flag over Fort San Carlos throughout the republic's short three-month life. The Republic surrendered the city of Baton Rouge to United States authorities on December 10, 1810.

U. S. military post at Baton Rouge

American forces renamed the fort Post at Baton Rouge. The Post at Baton Rouge served as the assembly point for American troops going to the Creek War in 1813-14 and to the

Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...

in 1814-15. The Army built the Baton Rouge Barracks just north of the Post at Baton Rouge and in 1819 demolished the former Fort San Carlos. United States Army Captain

James Gadsden James Gadsden (May 15, 1788December 26, 1858) was an American diplomat, soldier and businessman after whom the Gadsden Purchase is named, pertaining to land which the United States bought from Mexico, and which became the southern portions of Ar ...

designed the Baton Rouge Barracks and took charge of their construction from 1819 to 1825. The soldiers completed four two-story brick buildings, forming four sides of a regular pentagon, by 1825, hence the nickname "Pentagon Barracks." They also built a commissary-warehouse building, forming the fifth side of the pentagon, in 1821, but tore down this defective building within a few months due to faulty construction. The Pentagon Barracks could house one thousand troops. The Army in 1825 established a large adjacent Baton Rouge Arsenal and Ordnance Depot to serve the then- Southwestern United States.

American Civil War

The United States Army occupied the Baton Rouge Barracks and Arsenal until January 1861, when the State of Louisiana seized the post and turned the operation of the arsenal over to the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

. The Confederacy held Baton Rouge until its evacuation during the

capture of New Orleans The capture of New Orleans (April 25 – May 1, 1862) during the American Civil War was a turning point in the war, which precipitated the capture of the Mississippi River. Having fought past Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the Union was ...

in April 1862. Union troops took back and reoccupied the Baton Rouge complex in May 1862. The Confederates attempted unsuccessfully to retake Baton Rouge in the Battle of Baton Rouge (1862). Union authorities renamed the Barracks and Arsenal as Fort Williams after Union General Thomas Williams, who was killed in the battle. Union soldiers built earthworks to protect the complex, incorporating an old Indian mound into the defenses.

Louisiana State University

In 1884, the General Assembly of Louisiana passed a resolution allocating the full usage of the buildings and grounds of the Pentagon Barracks to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

. The University gained full possession of the grounds in 1886 and the buildings were used as dormitories for the students. The grounds were used by LSU until the university moved to its current location in 1926. Sigma Iota fraternity was founded there on November 27, 1904 as a secret society for Spanish-American students under the name La Colonia Hispano-Americana. Soon after its founding La Colonia Hispano-Americano decided to change its name to Sociedad Hispano-Americana in December 1904.

Modern use

In 1951, ownership of the Barracks was transferred to the State of Louisiana and on July 26, 1973, the buildings were placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. wit
three photos and a map
/ref> With . The Pentagon Barracks still houses the offices of the lieutenant governor and private apartments for state legislators.

References

External links

Capitol Complex attractions
at National Park Service {{LSU 1779 establishments in the British Empire American Civil War army posts American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places American Revolution on the National Register of Historic Places Baton Rouge, Louisiana Buildings and structures in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Defunct museums in Louisiana Louisiana State University buildings and structures Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in Baton Rouge, Louisiana University and college dormitories in the United States