Amos Stoddard | |
|---|---|
| Commandant of Louisiana | |
| In office March 10, 1804 – October 1, 1804 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | William Henry Harrison (as Governor of the District of Louisiana) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 26, 1762 |
| Died | May 11, 1813 (1813-05-12) (aged 50) Fort Meigs,Perrysburg, Ohio, U.S. |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Rank | Major |
| Battles/wars | War of 1812 |
Amos Stoddard (October 26, 1762 – May 11, 1813) was a careerUnited States Army officer who served in both theAmerican Revolutionary War and theWar of 1812, in which he was mortally wounded.
In 1804, Stoddard was theCommandant of the military district ofUpper Louisiana, which later becameMissouri after theLouisiana Purchase.
Stoddard was born inWoodbury, Connecticut, to Anthony and Phebe (Reed) Stoddard. He saw combat as a young man in theAmerican Revolutionary War, and afterwards representedHallowell, Maine, in theMassachusetts House of Representatives.[1][2] In June 1798, he was commissioned as a captain ofartillery in theUS Army.
Circa 1800 Stoddard commandedFort Sumner in his home town ofPortland, Maine as a company commander in theRegiment of Artillerists.[3]
In 1800 Spain ceded Louisiana back to France in theThird Treaty of San Ildefonso. Three years later,Napoleon promptly sold it to the United States to obtain money to continue his campaigns in Europe. Nevertheless, Spain had continued to govern the territory andCarlos de Hault de Lassus, the Spanish lieutenent governor for Upper Louisiana, initially refused to giveLewis and Clark permission to explore it. This forced Lewis and Clark to spend the winter of 1803–04 atCamp Dubois, in what is nowIllinois.
On November 30, 1803, inNew Orleans, Spain formally turned the territory over to France, which governed it for only 20 days before surrendering it to the United States on December 20, 1803.[4]
During theThree Flags Day ceremony on March 9–10, 1804, in Saint Louis, Stoddard represented both the United States and France. Lieutenant Governor de Lassus represented Spain. Stoddard noted about the residents:
Stoddard held the position as a military commander until October 1, 1804, when the territory came underWilliam Henry Harrison, in atransitional civil jurisdiction as part of theIndiana Territory. He was promoted to the rank of major in June 1807.
He was a member of Kennebec Lodge #5A. F. and A. M inHallowell, Maine,[6] and delivered the oration at the first anniversary of the chartering of the lodge on St. John's Day 1797.[7]
In the winter of 1812-13, after war had begun withGreat Britain, Major Stoddard accompanied Governor Harrison to the Maumee rapids inOhio, where they builtFort Meigs. Stoddard commanded the fort'sartillery.
From May 1 to May 9 of 1813, Fort Meigs was attacked by a large British and Indian force fromCanada under Major GeneralHenry Procter (seeSiege of Fort Meigs). Early on, Stoddard was wounded in the leg byshrapnel. He survived long enough to see the British retreat, but on May 11 he died fromtetanus.
According to a diary kept by Captain Daniel Cushing, Major Stoddard was buried in front of the Grand Battery at Fort Meigs. A stone monument inside the fort honors his memory today.Stoddard County, Missouri, was named for him.[8]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by none | Commandants of the Louisiana District 1803-1804 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
