Fort Niagara's Hot Shot Battery, taken from a vantage point that may or may not have been strictly permissible. One of Fort Niagara's weak spots in relation to the British Fort George across the Niagara River was that Fort George was on slightly higher ground, which made it difficult to return fire effectively: During the War of 1812 these two forts spent many happy hours trading shot, and a gun was eventually dragged to the roof of the French Castle in an attempt to gain the upper hand.

Initially Fort Niagara had only a low River Wall facing the river, which only added to Fort George's fire superiority. From 1839 to 1843 this wall was built to its current height, and the Hot Shot Furnace and -Battery were added.