which would mark the run-up to the War of 1812. Late that year, Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Williams of the United States Army Engineers began planning a series of fortifications in New York Harbor. Williams was part of a group of three commissioners who, in 1807, submitted a report that recommended the construction of fortifications in New York Harbor. Fort Clinton, originally known as West Battery and sometimes as Southwest Battery, was built on a small artificial island just off shore. Construction began in 1808, and the fort was completed in 1811, although modifications continued through the 1820s. Designed by John McComb Jr. with Jonathan Williams as consulting engineer, West Battery was roughly circular with a radius of approximately . About one-eighth of the circle had a straight wall instead of a curved wall. The walls were made of red sandstone quarried in New Jersey. The fort had 28 "thirty-two pounder" cannons. A wooden bridge led from the fort to the rest of Manhattan. West Battery was intended to complement the three-tiered Castle Williams, the East Battery, on Governors Island. The fort was completed in late 1811, and it was garrisoned in 1812. However, the fort was never used for warfare, and British and American forces signed a peace treaty in February 1815. By then, West Battery was renamed Fort Clinton in honor of New York City Mayor DeWitt Clinton (who eventually became Governor of New York). The castle itself was converted to administrative headquarters for the Army. Simultaneously, at the end of the war, there was a public movement to build a park in the Battery area. A 1816 proposal to construct two small office buildings at Fort Clinton was canceled due to public opposition, and the castle lay dormant for three years. The Common Council of New York proposed in May 1820 that the United States government transfer ownership of the castle to the city government, but the United States Congress declined to pass legislation to that effect. By 1820, Fort Clinton was being used as a paymaster's quarters and storage area. The United States Army stopped using the fort in 1821, and it was ceded to the city by an act of Congress in March 1822. By then, the bridge leading to Fort Clinton was frequently used by fishermen who were catching fish from the bridge, which was connected to the shore at the foot of Broadway. Entertainment