Joseph Gilbert Totten: Difference between revisions

{{refimprovemore citations needed|date=March 2013}}

|allegiance= [[United States of America]]<br />[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]

|branch= [[United States Army]]<br />[[Union Army]]

|rank= [[File:Union Army brigadier general rank insignia.svg|35px]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]]<br />[[File:Union armyArmy majmajor gengeneral rank insignia.jpgsvg|35px]] [[Brevet (military)|Brevet]] [[Major general (United States)|Major General]]

|battles= [[War of 1812]]<br/>[[Mexican-American War]]<br/>

|relations=[[James Totten]] (brother)<br />[[C. A. L. Totten]] (nephew)<br />[[Joseph K. Mansfield]] (cousin)

'''Joseph Gilbert Totten''' (August 23, 1788 – April 22, 1864) fought in the [[War of 1812]], served as [[Chief of Engineers]] and was regent of the [[Smithsonian Institution]] and cofounder of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]]. In 1836, he was elected a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=1836&year-max=1836&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-04-08|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

General Joseph G. Totten was born in [[New Haven, Connecticut]], to Peter Gilbert Totten and Grace Mansfield. He was onethe oftenth only three cadetsperson to graduate from the [[United States Military Academy]], asbeing partone of thethree classgraduating members of 1805 and was the 10thclass graduateof in the Academy's history1805. He was commissioned as Seconda second Lieutenantlieutenant in the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Corps of Engineers]] on July 1, 1805.

He resigned in March 1806 to assist his uncle, Major [[Jared Mansfield]], who was then serving as [[Surveyor General of the Northwest Territory]].

He Majorwas Generala cousin of [[Joseph K. Mansfield]], who rose to the rank of major general and died at the [[Battle of Antietam]], was his cousin.

Totten re-entered the Corps of Engineers in February 1808 and assistedhelped in buildingbuild [[Castle Williams]] and [[Castle Clinton]] in [[New York City|New York]] harbor.

During the [[War of 1812]], he was Chiefchief Engineerengineer of the Niagara frontier and [[Lake Champlain]] armies under General [[Stephen Van Rensselaer III|Stephen Van Rensselaer]]. At the [[Battle of Queenston Heights]], he fought alongside [[Winfield Scott]], who used Totten's [[Cravat (early)|cravat]] as a white flag to signal the American surrender.<ref>John Robert Elting (1995), ''Amateurs to Arms: A Military History of the War of 1812'', New York: Da Capo, p. 48.</ref> He was [[Brevet (military)|brevetted]] lieutenant colonel for gallant conduct in the [[Battle of Plattsburgh]]. As a member of the first permanent Board of Engineers, to which he was appointed in 1816, along with General [[Simon Bernard]], he laid down durable principles of coast defense construction in a report to Congress in 1821.

From 1825 until 1838, Totten oversaw the construction of [[Fort Adams]] in [[Newport, Rhode Island]]. Fort Adams was the second -largest construction project attempted by the Armyarmy in the 19th century—exceededcentury, only byafter [[Fort Monroe]] in Virginia. Totten employed recent graduates of West Point as assistant engineers at Fort Adams, whereand theytaught learnedthem advanced engineering techniques. Totten's apprentices included [[John G. Barnard]], [[George W. Cullum]], [[Pierre G. T. Beauregard]], and [[Alexander D. Bache]], all of whom earned distinction during the Civil War. While at Fort Adams, Totten conducted experiments with various mortar compositions and published a paper of his findings, entitled: ''Brief Observations on Common Mortars, Hydraulic Mortars and Concretes''.<ref>Ann Johnson, "Material Experiments: Environment and Engineering Institutions in the Early American Republic," ''Osiris'', NS 24 (2009), 53-74.</ref><ref name=Common-Mortars-paper>{{cite journal|last=Totten|first=J.G.|title=Brief Observations On Common Mortars, Hydraulic Mortars, and Concretes|year=1838|pages=227–253|url=http://www.naturalcement.org/Totten-1838sm.pdf|accessdate=18 January 2014}}</ref>

In 1833, Totten purchased the [[Francis Malbone House]] on Thames Street in Newport. At that time, it was the most opulent house in Newport. He lived there for the remainder of his time in Newport.

Totten was appointed [[Chief of Engineers|Chief Engineer]] of the United States Army in 1838, and served in that position for 25 years until his death in 1864, the longest tenure of any Chiefchief Engineerengineer. As Chiefchief Engineerengineer, he was intimately involved with every aspect of the Army Corps of Engineers activities, from fortifications to harbor improvement. He was elected an Associate Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1841.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter T|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterT.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|accessdate=September 13, 2016}}</ref> Beginning in 1844, Totten was involved with the construction of [[Fort Montgomery (Lake Champlain)|Fort Montgomery]] on [[Lake Champlain]] in upstate New York.

During this period, Totten invented an iron -reinforced [[embrasure]] for cannon which would better protect the gunners inside a fort. Known as "Totten shutters," the hinged swinging doors were installed on the cannon openings of the fort between the mortar and brick facade. Balanced to swing freely, the iron shutters would be forced open by the gasses expelled from the cannon, and then rebound shut immediately afterwards, shielding the gunners from incoming fire. First installed in American forts in 1857, the design was incorporated in such locations as Fort Montgomery, [[Fort Delaware]], [[Fort Wool|Fort John C. Calhoun (Fort Wool)]], and [[Dry Tortugas National Park|Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Preserving Fort Jefferson|url=http://www.nps.gov/drto/upload/Restoration%20site%20bulletin4.pdf|publisher=National Park Service, Department of the Interior|accessdate=18 January 2014}}</ref>

Totten was greatly admired by General Scott, for whom he directed the [[siege of Veracruz]] as his Chiefchief Engineerengineer during the [[Mexican-AmericanMexican–American War]]. He later served as a [[United States Civil War|Civil War]] [[Union Army]] general, being [[Brevet (military)|brevetted]] as a USU.S. Army Brigadierbrigadier Generalgeneral in 1847 and receiving his permanent appointment in 1863.

One of Totten's most significant achievements was the design and construction of the [[Minot's Ledge Light]] near [[Cohasset, Massachusetts]]. Previous efforts to build a lighthouse on the small ledge of rock had failed but Totten conceived a plan whereby the lighthouse would be pinned by its own weight to the ledge, making it able to withstand the harshest extremes of weather. It stands to this day flashing a distinctive 1-4-31–4–3 light pattern which has been interpreted to mean "I LOVE YOU".

Totten served most of his time as Chiefchief Engineerengineer in the rank of Colonelcolonel but was promoted to Brigadierbrigadier Generalgeneral on March 3, 1863. He died of [[pneumonia]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] on April 22, 1864 having served almost 60 years in the Army.

Totten was promoted to [[Brevet (military)|Brevetbrevet]] [[Major general (United States)|Majormajor Generalgeneral]] theon dayApril before21, his1864, deathhaving andserved wasalmost buriedsix decades in the [[Congressionalarmy. Cemetery]]He died the following day of pneumonia in [[Washington, D.C.]], and was buried in the [[Congressional Cemetery]] there.

Several military and civil locations have been named after General Totten.

The Civil War -era [[Fort Totten, Washington, D.C.|Fort Totten]] was built as part of the [[Defenses of Washington]], D.C. A few earthworks remain in [[Fort Totten Park]],. and theThe surrounding neighborhood, an apartment house development (Aventine Fort Totten),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://aventineforttotten.com |title= |website=aventineforttotten.com Retrieved |access-date=December 28, 2011.}}{{title missing|date=May 2022}}</ref> and a [[Fort Totten (Washington Metro)|Washington DC Metro station]] still bear thehis name.

The[[Fort CityTotten of New York(Queens)]] maintainsis a historic former USU.S. Army [[Fortfort Tottenmaintained (Queens)|fort inby [[New York City]] in Queens.

[[Tottenville, Staten Island]], was named for the family of an older relative of General Totten who was, one of three "Captain Tottens" thatwho supported the [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] cause during the [[American Revolution. See "Who was Who in America" and "American Bibliography" for more information]].

[[Robert E. Lee]] surveyed [[Biscayne Bay]] in ([[Miami, Florida|Miami]]) in 1850 for the Army Corps of Engineers under COLthen-Colonel Joseph Totten. Lee named [[Totten Key]] just south of Caesars Creek for him.

Totten Street is located on [[Fort Leonard Wood (military base)|Fort Leonard Wood]] in Missouri.

{{Portal|United States Army|American Civil War|Biography}}

*[[List of American Civil War generals# (Union-T|List of American Civil War generals)]]

*[http://www.history.army.mil/books/R&H/R&H-Engrs.htm US Army Corps of Engineers history: Chiefs of Engineers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524143810/http://www.history.army.mil/books/R%26H/R%26H-Engrs.htm |date=May 24, 2016 }}

[[Category:AmericanUnited peopleStates Army personnel of the War of 1812]]

[[Category:PeopleDeaths from Newpneumonia Havenin Washington, ConnecticutD.C.]]

[[Category:Military personnel from New Haven, Connecticut]]