Amos Stoddard was born October 26, 1762, in Woodbury, Connecticut. He saw service in the American Revolution. After the war he studied law and in 1791 was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. On June 4, 1798, he was appointed captain of artillery in the United States Army, and on June 30, 1807, he was given the rank of major. Stoddard was wounded during the siege of Fort Meigs, Ohio, and died of tetanus a few days later on May 11, 1813. Stoddard was a prominent figure in the transfer of Upper Louisiana from France to the United States. At the time appointed for the transfer, Spain still had possession of the territory, although three years had passed since the Treaty of San Ildefonso in which Spain ceded the country to France. The transfer of possession to France was required to precede the transfer from France to the United States. On November 30, 1803, Laussat, the French prefect at New Orleans, received Louisiana from the Spanish commissioners. On December 20, 1803, Claiborne and Wilkinson received the territory from France. As France had no representative in Upper Louisiana, Laussat commissioned Stoddard to take possession of the territory from Spain on behalf of the French government. He was also appointed to represent the United States government. On January 24, 1804, Stoddard was made the first civil commandant of Upper Louisiana.