EULOGY ON THE LATE GENERAL JOSEPH G. TOTTEN. 287 



originator. If, as is likely, he was aware of the hitter's rules on this subject, 

 he was the first to appreciate their essential importance, and to prove the prac- 

 ticability of their application. It is probable, however, that the close study of 

 the subject, critical observation, and keen sagacity which so distinguished him on 

 all occasions, and which taught him to accept nothing as the best which was 

 susceptible of improvement, led him to recognize as " murderous funnels" the 

 embrasures of routine — to create anew the rules of Montalembert, and to make, 

 for the first time, a successful application of them. He reduced the throat to 

 nearly an absolute minimum ; he placed it at two feet from the outer face of the 

 wall, diminishing the external openings from eighteen, twenty-two, and twenty- 

 eight, down to about ten square feet, while he increased the sector of fire of the 

 gun from forty-five to sixty degrees ; thus adding one-third to its field of fire, 

 and consequently to its value. 



The embrasures, thus modelled in 1815, remained unchanged until the year 

 1858, but the casemate continued a subject of study and experiment during most 

 of his life. The perfecting of ventilation, the determination of the dimensions 

 and height of the piers, of the span and rise of the arches, their thickness and 

 manner of covering, so as to obtain perfect drainage and to avoid the injurious 

 effects of frost, &c, were problems of prolonged research and skilful solution, 

 establishing for General Totten the right to be considered the author of the 

 American casemate. 



In connexion with these researches may be mentioned those also which were 

 directed to the determination of the manner of mounting guns " en barbette." * 

 As the dimensions of sea-coast ordnance increased, more and more elaborate 

 structures became necessary for their mounting and management. The plan- 

 ning and construction of the carriages belonged to the Ordnance Bureau, but it 

 was General Totten's task to adapt the platforms and parapets thereto. None 

 but the engineer or artillerist can thoroughly understand the difficulty and com- 

 plexity of the problems therein involved. To provide a platform which shall 

 support, without the slightest deflexion, the weight, and resist the shock of dis- 

 charge, while it provides for the training or pointing of the gun — which is so 

 adapted to the parapet as to allow the maximum horizontal sector of fire, and to 

 afford the most perfect cover to the gunners consistent with allowing all the de- 

 pression demanded by the circumstances of the case — such are the conditions to 

 be fulfilled, separately, for each calibre of gun. After years of experience, and 

 after our sea-coast ordnance had attained its highest development prior to the 

 introduction of the rifled gun and fifteen-inch columbiad, General Totten em- 

 bodied his results in a lithographic sheet exhibiting to the eye of the engineer 

 for every kind of gun and for every probable case the particular solution. This 

 single sheet exhibits strikingly the characteristics of the author's mind — the 

 profound study which he brought to bear on every subject, the scrupulous accu- 

 racy of his determinations, which neglected no appreciable magnitude, and the 

 thoroughness and generality of his solutions. 



When the embrasure of 1815 was designed, ships' armaments contained no 

 gun heavier than a twenty-four or thirty-two pounder. As the calibres increased 

 it became a matter of doubt whether the five feet thickness of wall immediately 

 about the embrasure was sufficient. At the same time the progress made in the 

 art of forging large masses of iron had suggested that by its use the funnel form 

 of the mouth might be entirely done away with, and the exterior opening re- 

 duced to an absolute minimum. Nothing but experiment could lead to sound 

 conclusions, and the experiments referred to on a former page were instituted, 

 the principal objects of which were (in General Totten's own language) — 



I. " To ascertain the effects of firing with solid balls, with shells, and with 

 grape and canister, from heavy ordnance at short distances, upon various mate- 

 rials used in the construction of casemate embrasures. 



* A barbette gun is one which is fired over a parapet. 



