From 1755 to 1839, all four versions of Fort Ontario were surrounded by a dry ditch and earthworks made of dirt and timber revetment that protected the garrison and forced attackers to climb a long glacis under musket and artillery fire before reaching the ditch, where they would face concentrated crossfire of muskets, artillery, and grenades. Beyond the main fort, smaller defenses such as redoubts, ravelins, redans, and other works stood from 1755 to 1815, with picket and guard posts placed still farther out to warn of approaching enemies and protect patrols, hunting parties, and woodcutting parties. On May 6, 1814, outnumbered Americans met a British landing force near shore at about noon but were driven back to the ditch, where they halted the enemy advance, even as Royal Navy seamen overran harborside artillery batteries and marines stormed the fort's northwest bastion, driving out or capturing its defenders. Surrounded on three sides, Lt. Colonel George Mitchell ordered a retreat from the ditch, but Sergeant Timothy Gowell's platoon at the north end did not hear the order, and after fighting until a volley struck them from behind, Private David Rodgers carried the badly wounded Gowell away with the platoon's survivors just before they were trapped. In 1902 the earthworks were removed, and from 1903 to 1905 brick officers' quarters and a tree-lined road were built as part of a modernization of the post, with garages, tennis courts, sheds, gardens, and a long driveway between the quarters and the stone fort; in 1953 Officers' Row and many other structures built from 1903 to 1946 were demolished, and the tree-lined road was removed in 1968.