Joseph Gilbert Totten Joseph Gilbert Totten ( August 23 , 1788 – April 22 , 1864 ) fought in the War of 1812 , served as Chief Engineer and was regent of the Smithsonian Institution and cofounder of the National Academy of Sciences . Early life and education . He was born in New Haven , Connecticut and was one of the three people to graduate from the United States Military Academy as part of the class of 1805 . He was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the 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 federal public lands . Major General Joseph K . Mansfield , who died at the Battle of Antietam , was his cousin . Military career . Totten re - entered the Corps of Engineers in February 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 . At the Battle of Queenston Heights , he fought alongside Winfield Scott , who used Totten ' s cravat as a white flag to signal the American surrender . He was brevetted lieutenant colonel for gallant conduct in the Battle of Plattsburgh . As a member of the first permanent Board of Engineers , 1816 , he laid down durable principles of coast defense construction . 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 Army in the 19th Century exceeded only by Fort Monroe in Virginia . Totten employed recent graduates of West Point as assistant engineers at Fort Adams where they learned 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 . 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 Engineer of the United States Army in 1838 , and served in that position for 25 years until his death in 1864 . As Chief Engineer he was intimately involved with every aspect of the Army Corps of Engineers activities from fortifications to harbor improvement . Beginning in 1844 , Totten was involved with the construction of Fort Montgomery on Lake Champlain in upstate New York . During this period , Totten also invented an iron reinforced embrasure for cannon which would better protect the gunners inside a fort , a design which he incorporated in Fort Montgomery , Fort Delaware and Fort John C . Calhoun ( Fort Wool ) . He was greatly admired by General 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 , being brevetted as a US Army Brigadier General 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 - 3 light pattern which has been interpreted to mean " I LOVE YOU " . Totten served most of his time as Chief Engineer in the rank of Colonel but was promoted to Brigadier General 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 Major General the day before his death and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington , D . C . . Namesakes . Several places have been named after General Totten , including : the Civil War Fort Totten built to defend the federal capital — while this fort no longer exists , the surrounding neighborhood , an apartment house development ( Aventine Fort Totten ) , and a Metro station still bear the name — as well as a fort in New York City and Fort Totten , North Dakota . Tottenville , Staten Island was named for the family of an older relative of General Totten who was one of three " Captain Tottens " that supported the Loyalist cause during the American Revolution . See " Who was Who in America " and " American Bibliography " for more information . Robert E . Lee surveyed Biscayne Bay ( Miami ) in 1850 for the Army Corp of Engineers under COL Joseph Totten . Lee named Totten Key just south of Caesers Creek for him . References . " This article contains public domain text from "