Qualla: Jackson Barracks

Jackson Barracks: Introduction

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Clark Mills, Public domain. Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, and P.G.T. Beauregard all walked the same quadrangle -- though never at the same time. That quadrangle belongs to Jackson Barracks, a fortified compound pressed between the Mississippi River levee and St. Claude Avenue in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward. Established in 1834 as "New Orleans Barracks," the post was designed by Lieutenant Frederick Wilkinson as a logistics hub for a chain of Gulf Coast forts. Its four three-story guard towers, windowless rear walls, and ten-foot brick facade gave the complex the profile of a small fortress rather than a simple garrison. By February 1837, the first troops had moved in, and the post began its long, tangled service to a nation that would soon tear itself apart.

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Image: Clark Mills | Public domain

Jackson Barracks: A Fortress Between River and Road

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Federal Fortifications Act of 1832 provided over $180,000 to shore up coastal defenses after the War of 1812 exposed America's vulnerabilities. On December 14, 1833, the government purchased a 100-by-300-yard parcel from Pierre Cotteret, and Wilkinson set to work designing a ...

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Image: Infrogmation of New Orleans | CC BY-SA 3.0

Jackson Barracks: Blue, Gray, and Buffalo Soldiers

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pburka, CC BY-SA 4.0. When Louisiana seceded in 1861, Confederate forces seized the barracks and held it for less than a year before Federal troops recaptured the post in 1862. On July 7, 1866, the compound was renamed Jackson Barracks in honor of Andrew Jackson, the general who won the Battle of New ...

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Image: Pburka | CC BY-SA 4.0

Jackson Barracks: Polo Fields and the Kingfish

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. After World War I, the federal government declared the property excess and handed it to Louisiana. Major General Raymond Fleming made Jackson Barracks the headquarters of the Louisiana National Guard, transforming it from an infantry post into a cavalry and artillery installation...

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Image: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided | Public domain

Jackson Barracks: Twenty Feet of Water

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 3.0. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 storm. The storm surge breached the Industrial Canal levee and submerged Jackson Barracks under more than twenty feet of water. Residents and troops were evacuated by boat to the Mississippi River levee, then air...

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Image: Infrogmation of New Orleans | CC BY-SA 3.0

Jackson Barracks: Standing Guard Again

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Eric Draper, Public domain. In 2013, the Ansel M. Stroud, Jr. Military History and Weapons Museum reopened in a new multi-use complex, with exhibits spanning the Louisiana Guard's response to Hurricane Katrina, the Global War on Terror, and the Gulf War of 1990-1991. The museum holds artifacts from each of ...

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Image: Eric Draper | Public domain