| Joseph Gilbert Totten |
Article Index for Joseph |
Website Links For Joseph |
Information AboutJoseph Gilbert Totten |
|
Joseph Gilbert Totten ( August 23 , 1788 – April 22 , 1864 ) was born in New Haven, Connecticut . He fought in the War Of 1812 , served as Chief Engineer , and was regent of the Smithsonian Institution . He graduated from the United States Military Academy and was commissioned in the Corps Of Engineers on July 1 , 1805 . He resigned in 1806 to assist his uncle, Major Jared Mansfield , who was then serving as Surveyor General of federal public lands. Totten re-entered the Corps of Engineers in 1808 and assisted in building Fort Williams and Fort Clinton in New York harbor. During the War Of 1812 , he was Chief Engineer of the Niagara frontier and Lake Champlain armies under General Stephen Van Rensselaer . He was Brevetted lieutenant colonel for gallant conduct in the Battle Of Plattsburg . As a member of the first permanent Board of Engineers, 1816 , he laid down durable principles of coast defense construction. In 1828 , Totten oversaw the construction of Fort Adams , Newport, Rhode Island . He was appointed Chief Engineer in 1838 , and served in that position for 25 years. He was greatly admired by General Winfield Scott , for whom he directed the Siege Of Veracruz as his Chief Engineer during the Mexican-American War . He later served as a Civil War Union Army general. He was regent of the Smithsonian Institution and cofounder of the National Academy Of Sciences . He died of Pneumonia in Washington, D.C. and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery . REFERENCES ''This article contains Public Domain text from'' |
|
|