[2] During its use as a military post the site has been visited by such notable figures as Zachary Taylor,[3] Lafayette, Robert E. Lee, George Custer, Jefferson Davis, and Abraham Lincoln.

Bernardo de Gálvez, colonial governor of Louisiana (New Spain), arrived on 20 September 1779 and found three hundred British troops garrisoning Fort New Richmond.

They flew their Bonnie Blue Flag over Fort San Carlos throughout the republic's short three-month life.

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 in 1814-15.

United States Army Captain James Gadsden designed the Baton Rouge Barracks and took charge of their construction from 1819 to 1825.

The Army in 1825 established a large adjacent Baton Rouge Arsenal and Ordnance Depot to serve the then-Southwestern United States.