Amos Stoddard Was born on October 26, 1762 to Anthony and Phebe (Reed) Stoddard in
Woodbury, ConnecticutWoodbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,198 at the 2000 census. The town center is also designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place . Woodbury was founded in 1672....
He married Catherine Tallman. He died at
Fort MeigsFort Meigs was a fortification along the Maumee River in Ohio during the War of 1812.-History:The fort construction was started in February of 1813 by soldiers under General William Henry Harrison in present-day Perrysburg, Ohio...
on May 11, 1813, where he was the artillery commander. Before this, he was commandant of Upper Louisiana. He served in the
American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , also sometimes known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen united former British colonies in North America, and concluded in a global war between several European great powers...
and The
War of 1812The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire , lasted from 1812 to 1815. It was fought chiefly on the Atlantic Ocean and on the land, coasts and waterways of North America.There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S...
. After the Revolution he represented
HallowellThe word Hallowell can refer to:*Edward Hallowell , an American physician and herpetologist*Edward Hallowell , an American psychiatrist known for his work on Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder...
in the state legislature.
Stoddard County, MissouriStoddard County is a county located in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the population was 29,705. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 29,537. The county seat is Bloomfield while the largest city in the county is Dexter...
is named in his honor.
Stoddard was the only commandant of Upper Louisiana for the French Republic and the only commandant for the
District of LouisianaThe District of Louisiana or Louisiana District was an official United States government designation for the portion of the Louisiana Purchase that had not been organized into the Territory of Orleans. The area north of present-day Arkansas was also known as Upper Louisiana...
for the United States in 1804 during the handover of the
Louisiana PurchaseThe Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of the French territory Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
.
Spain ceded the territory
Third Treaty of San IldefonsoThe Third Treaty of San Ildefonso was a secretly negotiated treaty between France and Spain in which Spain returned the colonial territory of...
in 1800 to Napoleon, ruler of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and then he turned around and sold it to the United States in 1803.
Amos Stoddard Was born on October 26, 1762 to Anthony and Phebe (Reed) Stoddard in
Woodbury, ConnecticutWoodbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,198 at the 2000 census. The town center is also designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place . Woodbury was founded in 1672....
He married Catherine Tallman. He died at
Fort MeigsFort Meigs was a fortification along the Maumee River in Ohio during the War of 1812.-History:The fort construction was started in February of 1813 by soldiers under General William Henry Harrison in present-day Perrysburg, Ohio...
on May 11, 1813, where he was the artillery commander. Before this, he was commandant of Upper Louisiana. He served in the
American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , also sometimes known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen united former British colonies in North America, and concluded in a global war between several European great powers...
and The
War of 1812The War of 1812, between the United States of America and the British Empire , lasted from 1812 to 1815. It was fought chiefly on the Atlantic Ocean and on the land, coasts and waterways of North America.There were several immediate stated causes for the U.S...
. After the Revolution he represented
HallowellThe word Hallowell can refer to:*Edward Hallowell , an American physician and herpetologist*Edward Hallowell , an American psychiatrist known for his work on Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder...
in the state legislature.
Stoddard County, MissouriStoddard County is a county located in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the population was 29,705. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 29,537. The county seat is Bloomfield while the largest city in the county is Dexter...
is named in his honor.
Military
Stoddard was the only commandant of Upper Louisiana for the French Republic and the only commandant for the
District of LouisianaThe District of Louisiana or Louisiana District was an official United States government designation for the portion of the Louisiana Purchase that had not been organized into the Territory of Orleans. The area north of present-day Arkansas was also known as Upper Louisiana...
for the United States in 1804 during the handover of the
Louisiana PurchaseThe Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of the French territory Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...
.
Spain ceded the territory
Third Treaty of San IldefonsoThe Third Treaty of San Ildefonso was a secretly negotiated treaty between France and Spain in which Spain returned the colonial territory of...
in 1800 to Napoleon, ruler of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and then he turned around and sold it to the United States in 1803. However the transfer from Spain to France had not formally taken place when France sold the territory to the United States. As a result, Spain had continued to govern the territory and refused to giveLewis and Clark permission to explore the territory. This forced Lewis and Clark to spend the winter of 1803-04 at
Camp DuboisCamp Dubois, near present day Hartford, Illinois, served as the winter camp for the Lewis and Clark Expedition from December 12, 1803, to May 14, 1804.It was located on the east side of the Mississippi River so that it was still in United States territory...
in
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
.
On November 30, 1803 Spain formally turned the territory over to France, which governed it for 20 days in
New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major U.S. port and the largest city in the state of Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the largest metro area in the state....
before turning it over to the United States on December 20, 1803. However, the news could not be conveyed upstream because of the winter navigation season on the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
.
France did not deploy an army or any representatives for its brief governance but rather appointed existing leaders to represent it in the mostly ceremonial transfer.
In the
Three Flags DayThree Flags Day commemorates March 9 and 10, 1804, when Spain officially turned over Louisiana Territory to France, which in turn ceded the territory to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase.The ceremony in St...
ceremony on March 9-10, 1804 at Government House, at the southeast corner of Main and Walnut in St. Louis Stoddard represented both the United States and France.
While at the territorial capital in
St. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. With an estimated population of 354,361 in 2008, it is the principal municipality of Greater St. Louis, population 2,866,517, the largest urban area in Missouri and sixteenth largest in the United States...
, Stoddard noted this 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 civilian leadership of
William Henry HarrisonWilliam Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States, an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office...
as part of the
Indiana TerritoryThe Territory of Indiana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1800, until November 7, 1816, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Indiana....
Service at Fort Meigs
In the winter of 1812-13, Major Amos Stoddard went with
William Henry HarrisonWilliam Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States, an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office...
to the Maumee rapids, where
Fort MeigsFort Meigs was a fortification along the Maumee River in Ohio during the War of 1812.-History:The fort construction was started in February of 1813 by soldiers under General William Henry Harrison in present-day Perrysburg, Ohio...
was constructed. Major Stoddard was in command of the fort's artillery.
From May 1st-9th of 1813, the British (Under Major General
Henry ProcterHenry Procter or Proctor was a British Major-General who served in Canada during the War of 1812. Procter is regarded by many as an inept leader who relied heavily on textbook procedure. His "going by the book" is attributed to his lack of any combat experience before coming to Canada.-Early...
) and their Indian Allies (Under
TecumsehTecumseh also Tecumtha or Tekamthi, was a Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy that opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812...
) besieged the structure (see
Siege of Fort MeigsThe Siege of Fort Meigs took place during the War of 1812, in northwestern Ohio. A small British army with support from Indians attempted to capture the recently-constructed fort to forestall an American offensive against Detroit, which the British had captured the previous year...
. During the first days of fighting, Major Stoddard was wounded with shrapnel in his leg while commanding the Grand Battery. He lived to see the British leave, but died several days later on May 11 of Lockjaw, today known as
tetanusTetanus, also called lockjaw, is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani. Infection generally occurs through...
. After his death, Captain Daniel Cushing of the Second U.S. Artillery Regiment took command of the fort's artillery.
According to a diary entry by Captain Cushing, Major Stoddard was buried in front of the Grand Battery. It is up to some debate if this meant in front of the fort, outside the walls or inside the fort between the battery and the traverse. Nevertheless, there is a small stone monument inside the fort between the battery and the traverse with his name, dates of birth and death and a summary of his life.