Amos Stoddard (October 26, 1762 – May 11, 1813) was a career

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

officer who served in both the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, in which he was mortally wounded. In 1804, Stoddard was the Commandant of the military district of Upper Louisiana, after the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

Biography

Stoddard was born in Woodbury, Connecticut, to Anthony and Phebe (Reed) Stoddard. He saw combat as a young man in the

, and afterwards represented Hallowell, Maine, in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

. In June 1798, he was commissioned as a captain of

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. Circa 1800 Stoddard commanded Fort Sumner in his home town of Portland, Maine as a company commander in the Regiment of Artillerists. In 1800 Spain ceded Louisiana back to France in the

Third Treaty of San Ildefonso The Third Treaty of San Ildefonso was a secret agreement signed on 1 October 1800 between the Spanish Empire and the French Republic by which Spain agreed in principle to exchange its North American colony of Louisiana for territories in Tuscany. ...

. Three years later,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

promptly sold it to the United States to obtain money to continue his campaigns in Europe. Nevertheless, Spain had continued to govern the territory and refused to give

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

permission to explore it. This forced Lewis and Clark to spend the winter of 1803-04 at

Camp Dubois Camp Dubois (English: Camp Wood), near present-day Wood River, Illinois, served as the winter camp and launch-point for the exploration of the Louisiana Purchase by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Founded at the confluence with the ''Rivière ...

, in what is now

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. On November 30, 1803, in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, 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. During the

Three Flags Day Three Flags Day commemorates March 9, and 10, 1804, when Spain officially completed turning over the Louisiana colonial territory to France, who then officially turned over the same lands to the United States, in order to finalize the 1803 Louisian ...

ceremony on March 9–10, 1804, in Saint Louis, Stoddard represented both the United States and France. Stoddard noted about the residents: :Nothing ever restrains them from amusement which usually commences early in the evening, and is seldom suspended till late the next morning. Stoddard held the position as a military commander until October 1, 1804, when the territory came under

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...

, in a transitional civil jurisdiction as part of the Indiana Territory. He was promoted to the rank of major in June 1807. He was a member of Kennebec Lodge #5 A. F. and A. M in Hallowell, Maine, and delivered the oration at the first anniversary of the chartering of the lodge on St. John's Day 1797.

Service at Fort Meigs

In the winter of 1812-13, after war had begun with

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, Major Stoddard accompanied Governor Harrison to the Maumee rapids in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, where they built Fort Meigs. Stoddard commanded the fort's

. From May 1 to May 9 of 1813, Fort Meigs was attacked by a large British and Indian force from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

under Major General

Henry Procter Henry Procter or Proctor may refer to: * Henry Procter (politician) (1883–1955), British politician * Henry H. Proctor (1868–1933), minister of the First Congregational Church (Atlanta) * Henry Proctor (rower) (1929–2005), American rower * He ...

(see

Siege of Fort Meigs The siege of Fort Meigs took place in late April to early May 1813 during the War of 1812 in northwestern Ohio, present-day Perrysburg. A small British Army unit with support from Indians attempted to capture the recently constructed fort to fores ...

). Early on, Stoddard was wounded in the leg by shrapnel. He survived long enough to see the British retreat, but on May 11 he died from

tetanus Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection caused by ''Clostridium tetani'', and is characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usually ...

Tributes

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 Stoddard County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,672. The county seat is Bloomfield. The county was officially organized on January 2, 1835, and is name ...

, was named for him.

References

External links

Rootsweb biographyMoshistory.org papers
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoddard, Amos 1762 births 1813 deaths Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives People from Woodbury, Connecticut People from Hallowell, Maine Infectious disease deaths in Ohio Deaths from tetanus