Q. what is the pentagon barracks?

Pentagon Buildings - State Capitol grounds

• Built in 1819-22 as a barracks for US troops. (An Advocate Article from June, 1968 dates the barracks to 1824)
• Used by Confederate troops 1861-62
• Original site of LSU
• Historical marker on-site was dedicated 6/3/68

Originally the Pentagon barracks buildings housed a three-story arsenal measuring 90 by 36 feet; a one-story magazine - 55 by 30 feet; a storehouse -110 by 45 feet and 1 1/2 stories high; and two small workshops.

The barracks was occupied almost continuously until January 10, 1861 when it was surrendered to Confederate Louisiana forces. It remained in Confederate hands until May 9, 1862, when it was surrendered to the Union gunship, Iroquois. Occupied by various detachments of federal troops, it remained a garrison until 1879 when the Department of the South ordered it vacated. It stayed empty until August 22, 1884, when it was turned over to the Department of the Interior. An historical marker was placed at the Pentagon on 4 June 1968 by the National Registry of Historic Buildings.

People who have stayed at the Barracks:

• President-to-be Zachary Taylor stayed there as a Lt. Col.
• Abraham Lincoln stayed there in 1828 and 1831 during his famous flat-bottomed boat trips
• Ulysses S. Grant stayed there as a young Lieutenant in 1840
• Jefferson Davis visited it
• Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman
• Henry Clay
• John Calhoun
• William Taft
• Warren G. Harding

Sources:
:Morning Advocate -- 6/4/68 p 13-A
:Morning Advocate -- 5/13/64