January 1847 expressing his agreement with all Burgoyne's views and reiterating his earlier arguments. Wellington's letter was leaked to the press by a friend of Burgoyne's wife and published in the Morning Chronicle in 1848 causing huge public alarm and a debate in the House of Commons. This led to discussions in the newspapers, which culminated in Parliament voting additional funds for naval and military expenditure. There was also alarm about the intentions of the Emperor Napoleon III in 1852 to 1853. The Board of Ordnance decided to build a fort at Littlehampton. Historian John Goodwin comments that "the War Office were worried that [the capture of the ports of Littlehampton and Shoreham] would enable the enemy to use the quays for the supply and reinforcement of troops landed to attack Portsmouth from the rear, prior to a march on London." In the early 1850s planning began for construction of a new fort on the west bank of the river. The work was completed in September 1854 at a cost of £7,615. Construction was overseen by Captain Fenwick of the Royal Engineers.The main building work was undertaken by Locke and Nesham, a large London firm who had already constructed several public buildings including Wandsworth Prison. In addition the glacis was built by the local firm of Robert Bushby. Description of the 1854 fort The new fort was in the shape of a lunette, a straight-sided crescent. The fort consisted of a platform for the guns with ramparts surrounded by a nine-yard (eight-metre) wide ditch, which incorporated a Carnot wall running along its centre. This was designed to halt attackers attempting to cross the ditch. The wall itself had loop-holes for defenders to fire through. In addition, at each corner were projecting open bastions from which the garrison could fire at besiegers along the length of the wall. To the rear of the gun platform was a fortified barrack block. The fort was the first of its kind in the United Kingdom; its Carnot wall and three open bastions made it unique. A further barrack block was later built outside the fort to house additional troops. The 1861 Census shows a total complement of 70 men including a gunner, surgeon, drummer, officers, NCOs and privates. The armaments, brought by sea from Woolwich arsenal, were three 68-pounder and two 32-pounder cannons. Later history of the fort The Committee on Coast Defences Report