Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Baton-Rouge

BATON-ROUGE, a town in the state of Louisiana, North America, situated on a bluff on the left bank of the

Mississippi, 120 miles above New Orleans. It has a court house, state penitentiary, national arsenal and barracks, military hospital, deaf and dumb asylum, and state university. Baton-Rouge was one of the first settlements of the French. In 1849 it was made the capital of the state, but has since given place to New Orleans. Occupied by the Federal troops after the capture of that city, it was defended in 1862 by General Williams against the attack of the Confederates under Breckenridge. Population in 1870, 6498.