The Pentagon Barracks is a complex of buildings located at State Capitol Drive at River Road in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...

, in the grounds of the state capitol. The site has been used by the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

, and United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 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 Lafayette, Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee

Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....

, George Custer, Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...

 and Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

.

French, British and Spanish Fort

Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville

Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville

Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1702 (probable)was a soldier, ship captain, explorer, colonial administrator, knight of...

 visited the area circa 1700. French retained Baton Rouge until the British took control of the city in 1763.

In 1779, during the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

, the British erected a dirt Fort Richmond on the banks of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

. Bernardo de Gálvez, Spanish Governor of Louisiana, arrived at Baton Rouge on 20 September 1779 and found three hundred British troops garrisoning Fort Richmond. In Battle of Baton Rouge (1779)

Battle of Baton Rouge (1779)

The Battle of Baton Rouge was a brief siege during the American Revolutionary 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....

, 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 Republic of West Florida. They raised the "Bonnie Blue Flag

Bonnie Blue Flag

The Bonnie Blue Flag, a single white star on a blue field, was the flag of the short-lived Republic of West Florida. Decades later, during the Civil War, it became an unofficial banner of the Confederacy, inspiring the song "The Bonnie Blue Flag," which was often sung by Southern troops.The flag...

" of Republic of West Florida over Fort San Carlos throughout the short 90-day life of the Republic. The Republic turned over the city of Baton Rouge to United States of America on 10 December 1810.

United States Military Post at Baton Rouge

American forces renamed the fort Post at Baton Rouge. Post at Baton Rouge served as the assembly point for American troops going to the Creek War

Creek War

The Creek War , also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, began as a civil war within the Creek nation...

 in 1813/1814 and to the Battle of New Orleans

Battle of New Orleans

The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815 and was the final major battle of the War of 1812. American forces, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory the United States had acquired with the...

 in 1814/1815. The Army built Baton Rouge Barracks just north of Post at Baton Rouge and demolished Post at Baton Rouge in 1819.

United States Army Captain James Gadsden

James Gadsden

James Gadsden was an American diplomat, soldier and businessman and namesake of the Gadsden Purchase, in which the United States purchased from Mexico the land that became the southern portion of Arizona and New Mexico. James Gadsden served as Adjutant General of the U. S...

 designed 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 torn down this defective building within a few months due to poor 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

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

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

. The Confederacy held Baton Rouge until its evacuation during the Battle of New Orleans in April 1862. Union troops retook and reoccupied the Baton Rouge complex in May 1862.

The Confederates attempted unsuccessfully to retake Baton Rouge Battle of Baton Rouge (1862)

Battle of Baton Rouge (1862)

The Battle of Baton Rouge was a ground and naval battle in the American Civil War fought in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, on August 5, 1862. The Union victory halted Confederate attempts to recapture the capital city of Louisiana.-Background:...

 (in August 1862). The Union forces renamed Pentagon Barracks and Baton Rouge Arsenal as Fort Williams after Union General Thomas Williams

Thomas Williams (general)

Thomas R. Williams was an antebellum United States Army officer and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was killed as he commanded the Union troops at the Battle of Baton Rouge....

, 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

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

. The University gained full possession of the grounds in 1886 and remained there until moving to the current location of the campus in 1926.

Modern use

In 1951, ownership of the Barracks was transferred to the State of Louisiana and in 1976, it was placed on the National Historic Register..

The Pentagon Barracks now houses the offices of the lieutenant governor, the Pentagon Barracks Museum and Visitors Center, and private apartments for state legislators.

External links

• Capitol Complex attractions
• Historic Photos
• Pentagon Barracks, at National Park Service