EULOGY ON THE LATE GENERAL JOSEPH G. TOTTEN 2G9 



through their intrinsic strength. It was not till after the close of the war with 

 England that a permanent system of coast defence was entered upon by our 

 government. Indeed, without the experience of that war it is doubtful whether 

 a measure, always so unpopular and generally so little understood as a national 

 system of fortifications, could have gained the support of Congress and of the 

 people. A " board of engineers " was constituted in 1816, with instructions to 

 make examinations of the sea-coast, and to prepare plans for defensive works, 

 subject to the revision of the chief engineer and the sanction of the Secretary 

 of War. 



Up to this period the Military Academy had maintained a sort of embryo 

 •existence, without definite form or a prescribed system. The annual term of 

 study lasted from April to' November, all the intermediate months being vaca- 

 tion. No fixed number of terms was necessary to graduation, nor was it pre- 

 scribed what should be studied. Some cadets remained but a single term be- 

 fore being commissioned ; others, several years. Although this period pro- 

 duced officers who afterwards became highly distinguished in engineering, (as 

 well as in other branches of military art,) it is not surprising that the govern- 

 ment yet entertained the common notion that only in Europe, and especially in 

 France, could high military science be found ; nor that, in undertaking so vast 

 and costly a work as the fortification of our sea-coast, distrust should have been 

 felt in the unaided abilities of our own engineer officers. A distinguished 

 French engineer, General Simon Bernard, was invited to this country, and, as 

 " assistant " in the corps of engineers, (an office created for the purpose by 

 Congress,) made a member of the board which, as first constituted, November 

 1G, 1816, consisted of himself as president, Colonel William McRee, and Lieu- 

 tenant Colonel J. G. Totten. In 1817 Colonel Totten was relieved, and ap- 

 pears to have been stationed at Rouse's Point, Lake Champlain, in charge of 

 fortifications at that place, and the board to have been composed of Brigadier 

 General J. G. Swift, Chief Engineer, Brigadier General Bernard, and Colonel 

 McRee ; but Colonel Totten was again made a member in 1819, and (both 

 General Swift and Colonel McRee having resigned) the permanent board came 

 to consist of Bernard and Totten alone, and the labor of working out the funda- 

 mental principles of the system, and of elaborating the projects of defence for 

 the great seaports, thus devolved mainly upon these two officers, though naval 

 officers of rank and experience were associated with them whenever their exam- 

 inations included positions for dock-yards, naval depots, or other objects which 

 concerned the naval service. 



Though the advent of a foreign officer, and his assignment to this duty, under 

 the anomalous designation of "assistant" in the corps of engineers, naturally 

 caused some feeling, yet it can scarcely be doubted that the influence of the 

 proceeding was beneficial. If in Swift, McRee, Totten, Thayer, and many 

 others, were found high engineering abilities and acquirements, it is no less true 

 that professional association with such a man as Bernard was calculated to stim- 

 ulate to higher attainments and more zealous exertion. The spirit of emulition 

 alone would induce our own officers to prove to the country that they were not 

 inferior to others. To high military and scientific acquirements and great ex- 

 perience in his professional duties, General Bernard united to the qualities of an 

 amiable and accomplished gentleman the tact to adapt himself to his peculiar 

 position without wounding the pride of those with whom he was thus associ- 

 ated. The prestige of his name aided powerfully in sustaining, with the admin- 

 istration and with Congress, the measures which the board found necessary to 

 recommend, and in establishing firmly, as a part of our national policy, the sys- 

 tem of sea-coast defence by fortifications. In recounting the origin and growth 

 of the system, it is but just to give that name an honorable mention. 



By the board of engineers of which 1 have been speaking a series of reports 

 was drawn up, which, mostly from the pen of our departed associate, form his 



