Fort Montgomery on Lake Champlain-- Part 5: Joseph Totten

Directly behind the fort itself, between it and the actual shoreline, a massive manmade island was constructed.  Standing higher than the fort itself,  the earthen berm was known as the "cover face" and protected the fort against an enemy on land being able to utilize heavy siege guns to reduce the walls.

It was connected to land by a narrow stone causeway and to the fort itself by a bridge.  Also, during the fort's latter construction, Chief Engineer of the Army, Joseph Totten, invented an iron reinforced embrasure for cannons which would better protect the gunners.

This upgrade was added to the fort's design in the upper tier.  The two lower ones had aleady been completed so were left with the brick embrasures.

Totten was no stranger to the area either, having served as a major under Generals Izard and Macomb during the 1814 Battle of Plattsburgh where he had been in charge of constructing the American defenses.

Later, he was brevetted to lieutenant colonel for gallantry under fire.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Delaware in the War of 1812

From Wikipedia.

On Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River.

After the island was given to the federal government by Delaware for the construction of a fortification, not a whole lot was done during the war.  What was done was directed largely by Captain Samuel Babcock, who also worked on the defenses of Philadelphia.

A seawall and dykes were built around the island but there was no evidence that an actual fort of any sort was on the island when the war ended.  A martello tower was planned for it.

Construction of a star fort began on the island December 8, 1817.  Chief engineer Joseph Totten designed the fort.

--Brock-Perry

The Plattsburgh Barracks-- Part 4: The War of 1812 Fortifications

During the Second Seminole War, nearly a quarter of the U.S. Army strength was sent to Florida and Congress realized that the Army needed to be expanded and that was when it was raised to 12,539.  Along with the increase in strength, housing became a big issue which was why the Army built the Plattsburgh Barracks.

A permanent Army post was planned and was to have four stone barracks surrounded by a wooden palisade.

A site was selected outside of the town of Plattsburgh and just south of the three remaining earthwork fortifications from the 1814 siege:  Fort Brown, Fort Moreau and Fort Scott.

These forts had been constructed under the direction of Major Joseph Totten, an expert military engineer during the war.  There were also two smaller redoubts erected later, Fort Tompkins and Fort Gaines.  All five of these fortifications formed the endpoints of a pentagon which featured a field of interlocking cannon fire.

--Brock-Perry