René Edward De Russy René Edward De Russy ( February 22 , 1789 – November 23 , 1865 ) was an engineer , military educator , and career United States Army officer who was responsible for erecting many Eastern United States coastal fortifications . He served as superintendent of the United States Military Academy and was promoted to brigadier general during the American Civil War . Early life . René Edward De Russy was born in the French colony of Saint - Domingue ( now Haiti ) on February 22 , 1789 . Two years later , the De Russy family moved to Old Point Comfort , Virginia . At the age of 18 , De Russy enrolled into the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York on March 20 , 1807 , and graduated on June 10 , 1812 , at the bottom of his class . Military career . After West Point , De Russy worked as the assistant engineer for New York State ’ s defenses and helped to build Fort Montgomery , Rouses Point on the United States - Canada border . In the late 1810s he became the Superintending Engineer of the defenses of New York Harbor . However , after that he was sent south to build forts along the Gulf of Mexico , from 1821 to 1825 . In 1825 he returned to New York where he continued to build the Harbor ’ s defenses , specifically Fort Hamilton . The Brooklyn Eagle reported that De Russy was the “ engineer under whose direction Fort Hamilton was built , the corner stone of which was laid on June 11 , 1825 , and which was first garrisoned by troops on November 1 , 1831 . ” During this stay in New York De Russy inspected the construction of the New Utrecht Reformed Church in and built his home , which the Brooklyn Eagle referred to as “ The Lookout ” because it overlooked the harbor , situated as it was on the very top of the hill that became Dyker Heights , Brooklyn , New York . On July 1 , 1833 he became Superintendent of the United States Military Academy , in which he supervised for five years . Thereafter , he was sent south again to build forts in Virginia and Delaware . Because of his extensive career , De Russy became a member of the Atlantic Coast Defense Board from 1849 until 1854 , when he was sent to San Francisco , where he built military forts and aptly became member of the Pacific Coast Defense Board . In 1857 he was sent back to the Atlantic Coast but returned to San Francisco in 1861 ; “ he died while on active duty at San Francisco on November 23 , 1865 , aged 75 years , the oldest graduate of the Military Academy on active duty . ” While in the military he rose to the rank of Brigadier General and invented the barbette depressing gun carriage . He is buried at the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery . There are five Forts DeRussy in the United States . Fort DeRussy Military Reservation in Honolulu , two in Louisiana , one in Kentucky , and one in Washington , D . C . The latter four were all built during the American Civil War . All of the forts were named for two brothers , Lewis Gustave and René Edward De Russy . Lewis was also a graduate of the United States Military Academy in 1814 . Lewis , as a major general of the Louisiana Militia , was the oldest West Point graduate to serve on the Confederate side , while hisolder brother René served on the Union side .