Jackson Square

The bronze statue of Andrew Jackson on his rearing horse marks the center of the square. Originally named the Place d'Armes, this ground served as the city's military parade field during the Spanish and French colonial periods. In eighteen sixty-two, after Union troops captured New Orleans, General Benjamin Butler ordered the phrase The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved carved into the base of the statue. It remains there today, a heavy marker of the city's occupation during the Civil War.