James Stoddard (born 1838, date of death unknown) was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during an engagement in Yazoo City, Mississippi.
Born in 1838 in Port Robinson, Upper Canada (in present-day Ontario), Stoddard enlisted in the U.S. Navy on September 21, 1863, in Detroit.
On that day, he was among a group of sailors who went ashore with a howitzer to help repulse a Confederate attack on Yazoo City, Mississippi.
Stoddard was wounded in the neck during the action, but recovered and received the Medal of Honor and a promotion to acting master's mate on April 14, 1864.
[4] Stoddard's official Medal of Honor citation reads: Off Yazoo City, Miss., 5 March 1864.