Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/165

Rh went to the isthmus to decide on the canal project. Later he went to Venezuela, where he was engaged in the survey of a railroad, and he afterward be- came consulting engineer of the Panama railroad.

TOTTEN, James, soldier, b. in Pittsburg, Pa., 11 Sept., 1818 ; d. in Sedalia, Mo., 1 Oct., 1871. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1841, became 1st lieutenant in 1847, engaged in the Florida war against the Seminole Indians in 1849-50, and became captain in 1855. He aided in quelling the Kansas disturbances in 1857-'8, and in expelling intruders from the Indian reserves in Kansas and Arkansas in 1860. While in com- mand of Little Rock arsenal in February, 1861, he was compelled to evacuate that post by a superior Confederate force under Gov. Henry M. Rector. He served under Gen. Nathaniel Lyon and Gen. John C. Fremont in the military operations in Missouri as chief of artillery, was engaged at Camp Jackson, Booneville, and Wilson's Creek,' and in June was brevetted major in the U. S. army for Camp Jackson, and lieutenant-colonel in August, , for "gallant and meritorious service" in all these actions. He became major in the 1st Mis- souri volunteers, 19 Aug., 1861, lieutenant-colonel the next month, and assistant inspector-general, with the rank of major, in November. On 12 Feb., , he became brigadier-general of Missouri militia, in command of the central district of the state. He then engaged in several actions on the frontier and in pursuit of the enemy beyond Bos- ton mountains, Ark., became inspector-general of the Department of the Missouri in May, 1863, and chief of artillery and chief of ordnance in 1864. He was brevetted colonel, U. S. army, on 13 March, 1865, " for gallant and meritorious conduct during the siege of Mobile, Ala.," and on the same day brigadier-general in the U.S. army "for gallant and meritorious service in the field " during the civil war. He was inspector-general of the Mili- tary division of the Atlantic from 15 Aug., 1865, till 27 Aug., 1866, and became lieutenant-colonel, U. S. army, and assistant inspector-general, 13 June, 1867. In 1870 he was retired. — His son, Charles Adiel Lewis, inventor, b. in New London, Conn., 3 Feb., 1851, was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1873, was professor of military science and tactics in the Massachusetts agricultural col- lege at Amherst in 1875-'8, and occupied a similar chair in St. Paul's cathedral school, Garden City, N. Y., in 1883-'6. He is now 1st lieutenant in the 4th artillery. He served in the Bannock campaign in 1878, and in the Chiricahua campaign in 1881. In 1877 he patented an improvement in explosives, one in collimating sights, one in signal-shells, and several minor inventions. He patented " Strate- gos," a war-game, in 1880, a system of weights and measures in 1884, and improvements in linear and other scales in 1885. Trinity gave him the degree of A. M. in 1885. He has written extensively on pyramid explorations, lectured in favor of Prof. Piazzi Smyth's pyramid theories, and for several years was chairman of the committee on pyramid exploration in the International institute for pre- serving Anglo-Saxon weights and measures. His publications include "Strategos, the American War-Game " (2 vols., New York, 1880) ; " An Im- portant Question in Metrology," a plea for the Anglo-Saxon against the metric system (1883) ; and, under the pen-name of Ten Alcott, " Gems, Talis- mans, and Guardians, the Facts, Fancies, Legends, and Lore of Nativity" (1887).

TOTTEN, Joseph Gilbert, soldier, b. in New Haven, Conn., 23 Aug., 1788; d. in Washington, D. C, 22 April, 1864. He received his earliest education under the direction of his maternal uncle, Jared Mansfield, by whom he was brought up after the death of his mother. After his uncle's occu- pation of the chair of mathematics at the U. S. military academy the boy received an appointment from Connecticut as cadet. In 1805 he was graduated and promoted 2d lieutenant in the corps of engineers. Meanwhile Capt. Mansfield, having been made survey- or-general of Ohio and the western ter- ritories, obtained the services of his nephewas secretary of the first syste- matic survey of any of the new states of the Union. While holding this place he resigned in 1806 from the army, but returned to the engineering corps two years later, and began his career as a military engineer under Col. Jonathan Williams. His first work was on the construction of Castle Williams and Fort Clin- ton in New York harbor, of which he had special supervision in 1808-'12 ; and in July, 1810, he was promoted 1st lieutenant. During the war of 1812 he served as chief engineer of the army under Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer on the Niagara frontier, and participated in the battle of Queenstown. Sub- sequently he was chief engineer of the army under Gen. Henry Dearborn in 1813, and of that under Gen. Alexander Macomb in 1814. His services gained for him promotion to captain, and the brevets of major in 1813 and lieutenant-colonel for his conduct at Plattsburg in 1814. At the close of the war he returned to duties in connec- tion with the National coast defences and served chiefly at Newport, R. I., where he had charge of the construction of Fort Adams until 7 Dec, 1838, when, having passed through the grades of major in 1818 and lieutenant-colonel in 1828, he was ap- pointed colonel and chief engineer of the U. S. army. In connection with the labors incidental to this office, he was intrusted with the inspector- ship and supervision of the U. S. military academy, which duties he filled until his death. At the be- ginning of the Mexican war he was called by Gen. Winfield Scott to take charge of the engineering operations of the army that was to invade Mexico. In this capacity he directed the siege of Vera Cruz, for which he was brevetted brigadier-general. He then returned to his official duties in Washington, and, in addition to his regular work, was a member of the light-house board in 1851-8 and 1860-'4, also serving in 1855 as a state commissioner for the preservation of the harbor of New York, and later in similar capacity in Boston. In 1859-61 he made a reconnoissance of the Pacific coast of the United States to determine the requisites for its defence, and inspecting fortifications. After the beginning of the civil war he had charge of the engineer bureau in Washington, and acted on various military commissions. When the corps of engineers and that of topographical engineers were consolidated in 1863, he was made brigadier-general on 3 March, and for his long, faithful, and eminent services was brevetted major-general on 21 April, 1864. He was one of the regents of