It is located on the grounds of the former Army coastal artillery station Fort Rosecrans and is administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

Many Fort Rosecrans interments date to the early years of the California Republic, including the remains of the casualties of the Battle of San Pasqual, in which 19 of Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny's men and an untold number of Californios lost their lives.

In 1922, the San Diego chapter of the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West had a large boulder brought from the battlefield and placed at the gravesite with a plaque affixed that lists the names of the dead.

Two days later the remains of soldiers and sailors were brought to the post cemetery and interred in an area known as Bennington Plot.

[6] In addition, southern California was experiencing a phenomenal population growth during this period, and there was a definitive need for more burial sites.

The Fort Rosecrans Memorial Day Committee consists of war veterans' organizations, their auxiliaries, and patriotic groups.

Reservists and National Guard members, as well as their spouses and dependent children, are eligible if they were entitled to retired pay at the time of death, or would have been upon reaching requisite age.