We have seen no written account of these works, but from a hasty examination in 1844, they struck us as being too complicated and expensive.
The new fortifications of Western Germany are modifications of Rempler's system, as improved by De la Chiche and Montalembert.

It is said that General Aster, the directing engineer, has also introduced some of the leading principles of Chasseloup and Carnot.
The English engineers have satisfied themselves with following in the track of their continental neighbors, and can offer no claims to originality.
Of the system of fortification now followed in our service we must decline expressing any opinion; the time has not yet arrived for subjecting it to a severe and judicious criticism.

But of the system pursued previous to 1820, we may say, without much fear of contradiction, that a worse one could scarcely have been devised.
Instead of men of talent and attainments in military science, most of our engineers were then either foreigners, or civilians who owed their commissions to mere political influence.

The qualifications of the former were probably limited to their recollection of some casual visit to two or three of the old European fortresses; and the latter probably derived all their military science from some old military book, which, having become useless in Europe, had found its way into this country, and which they had read without understanding, and probably without even looking at its date.

The result was what might have been anticipated--a total waste of the public money.