The cemetery is a 17.5-acre (7.1 ha) graveyard adjacent to the site that was once the battleground of the Battle of New Orleans, which took place at the end of the War of 1812.

Military Cemetery Road runs the length of the grounds from the entrance at West Saint Bernard Highway to the levee along the Mississippi River.

In the early part of the American Civil War, former slaves were buried at the site as were both Confederate and Union troops.

[9] Originally some Confederate soldiers were buried there but were moved to the now defunct Cypress Grove #2 Cemetery by the Ladies of the Benevolent Association of New Orleans.

After the Civil War, makeshift battlefield burial plots around the state had their interments moved to the more permanent national cemeteries.

[5] During the early 1960s, the historic community of Fazendeville was demolished in order to expand the battlefield in preparation for the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, which took place in 1965.

The town, which had been established sometime around 1870 by Jean-Pierre Fazende, had been "founded as a home for newly freed slaves," according to news reports.

Local, state and federal elected officials had been engaged in efforts to acquire the community's lands since at least the early 1930s.

[5] Consistent with widespread interest in the language of flowers during the late 19th century in the United States, designers of the cemetery made extensive use of landscaping to honor the deceased.

[5][3] The original entrance to the Chalmette National Cemetery was from the Mississippi River, as visitors typically arrived and departed by boat.