Joseph Gilbert Totten (August 23, 1788 – April 22, 1864) fought in the War of 1812, served as Chief of Engineers and was regent of the Smithsonian Institution and cofounder of the National Academy of Sciences.

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.

As a member of the first permanent Board of Engineers, to which he was appointed in 1816, along with General Simon Bernard, he laid down durable principles of coast defense construction in a report to Congress in 1821.

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.

Balanced to swing freely, the iron shutters would be forced open by the gasses expelled from the cannon, and then rebound shut immediately afterwards, shielding the gunners from incoming fire.

The surrounding neighborhood, an apartment house development (Aventine Fort Totten),[7] and a Washington DC Metro station bear his name.

Tottenville, Staten Island, was named for the family of an older relative, one of three "Captain Tottens" who supported the Loyalist cause during the American Revolution.

Robert E. Lee surveyed Biscayne Bay in (Miami) in 1850 for the Army Corps of Engineers under then-Colonel Joseph Totten.