Amos Stoddard
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 Woodbury, Connecticut, British America |
Died | May 11, 1813 Fort Meigs, Perrysburg, Ohio, U.S. | (aged 50)
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 career United States Army officer who served in both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, in which he was mortally wounded.
In 1804, Stoddard was the Commandant of the military district of Upper Louisiana, which later became Missouri after the Louisiana Purchase.
Biography
Stoddard was born in
Circa 1800 Stoddard commanded Fort Sumner in his home town of Portland, Maine as a company commander in the Regiment of Artillerists.[3]
In 1800 Spain ceded Louisiana back to France in the
On November 30, 1803, in New 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 the Three Flags Day 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.[5]
Stoddard held the position as a military commander until October 1, 1804, when the territory came under William Henry Harrison, 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
Service at Fort Meigs
In the winter of 1812-13, after war had begun with Great Britain, Major Stoddard accompanied Governor Harrison to the Maumee rapids in Ohio, where they built Fort Meigs. Stoddard commanded the fort's artillery.
From May 1 to May 9 of 1813, Fort Meigs was attacked by a large British and Indian force from Canada under Major General Henry Procter (see Siege of Fort Meigs). 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.
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, was named for him.[8]
References
- ISBN 1-58477-628-5
- ^ 'Old Hallowell on the Kennebac,' Emma Huntington Nason, 1909, pg. 136-137
- ISBN 978-0-9748167-2-2.
- ^ The Spanish Regime in Missouri by Louis Houck - 1909
- ISBN 0-252-06422-4
- ^ "History of Kennebec Lodge A.F. & A.M. - Hallowell, Maine". Archived from the original on 2014-03-16. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Stoddard, Amos; Robinson, Howard Smith; Me.), Freemasons Kennebeck Lodge (Hallowell (1797). A Masonic Address, Delivered Before the Worshipful Master, Officers and Brethren, of the Kennebeck Lodge, in the New Meeting-house, Hallowell, Massachusetts; June 24th, Anno Lucis 5797. Brother Howard S. Robinson.
- ^ Eaton, David Wolfe (1918). How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named. The State Historical Society of Missouri. p. 366.