Duncan McArthur (1772April 29, 1839) was a military officer and a Federalist and

National Republican The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Qu ...

politician from

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 ...

. He served as the 11th governor of Ohio. When first elected to state office as a representative, he was serving in the state militia during 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 ...

. He was later appointed as

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

in the

U.S. 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, cl ...

. Shortly thereafter he was placed in charge of the Army of the Northwest, serving through 1817 and negotiating the

Treaty of Fort Meigs The Treaty of Fort Meigs, also called the Treaty of the Maumee Rapids, formally titled, "Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., 1817", was the most significant Indian treaty by the United States in Ohio since the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. It resulte ...

of 1817 to ratify peace and land cessions with Native American tribes.

Biography

Sources vary as to McArthur's exact birthdate. It has been given as January 14, 1772 or June 14, 1772. He was born to Scottish immigrants in Dutchess County in the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...

, McArthur grew up in western

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and later moved to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, where he was employed as an Indian ranger. McArthur and his friend

Alexander McGuffey Alexander McGuffey, also known as Sandy (November 22, 1767–March 1, 1855), was a Scottish American scout on the Ohio frontier during the Northwest Indian War. He was the father of William Holmes and Alexander Hamilton McGuffey, who edited the ...

volunteered in 1790 at Fort Pitt for expeditions against Native Americans during the Northwest Indian War, serving as a scout under Generals

Josiah Harmar Josiah Harmar (November 10, 1753August 20, 1813) was an officer in the United States Army during the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War. He was the senior officer in the Army for six years and seven months (August 1784 to Ma ...

and

Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his mil ...

. McArthur obtained a position with

Nathaniel Massie Nathaniel Massie (December 28, 1763 – November 13, 1813) was a frontier surveyor in the Ohio Country (including the Virginia Military District) who became a prominent land owner, politician, and soldier. He founded fourteen early towns in ...

in 1793, and worked with Massie on a surveying expedition in the Northwest Territory. In 1796, he worked with Massie to lay out the new town of Chillicothe, Ohio, which was to become the state capital in 1803. McArthur moved across the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

in 1797 to Chillicothe, where he gained wealth by his land speculations in the Northwest Territory.

Career in the War of 1812

McArthur was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

Ohio's 3rd congressional district Ohio's 3rd congressional district is located entirely in Franklin County and includes most of the city of Columbus. The current district lines were drawn in 2011, following the redistricting based on the 2010 census. It is currently represent ...

while serving in the state

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

during the

. He never qualified for office as he preferred to continue serving in the military.

Using deception in the First American Invasion of Canada

He was appointed colonel of Ohio volunteers and was second-in-command to General

William Hull William Hull (June 24, 1753 – November 29, 1825) was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and was appointed as Governor of Michigan Territory (1805–13), gaining large land cessions from several Am ...

Fort Detroit Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Detroit (1701–1796) was a fort established on the north bank of the Detroit River by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and the Italian Alphonse de Tonty in 1701. In the 18th century, Fre ...

. In July 1812, General

was at

as the British fortified a defensive position across the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Detro ...

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

. Hull decided to move the British to Fort Malden, further away from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, so that he could seize the defenses in Windsor. To implement his plan, Hull resorted to deception, which began when his troops collected all the boats and canoes they could find. On 11 July 1812, Hull sent some boats down the river to Springwells, south of Detroit, in full view of the British. At the same time, the American regiment commanded by Duncan McArthur marched from Detroit to Springwells, also observed by the British. With the British now anticipating an American crossing south of Detroit, a second American force moved north in the dark until they reached Bloody Run, a crossing point a mile and a half north of Fort Detroit and opposite the Ontario town of

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

. Finding no activity at Springwells, the British believed the Americans had already crossed the river and marched on Fort Malden. Assuming Fort Malden was vulnerable, the British troops in Sandwich marched south, and in the morning the Americans at Bloody Run crossed to Sandwich unopposed. After landing in Sandwich, the Americans then marched from Sandwich to Windsor and seized the British defensive works.

Duncan McArthur’s deep penetration raid into Thames

It was July 13, 1812. The American militia and regulars were conducting paramilitary operations in their invasion of Canada. American intelligence claimed they found a group of enemy Indian fighters. American militia commander Duncan McArthur with one hundred American militiamen went in pursuit. The American militia chased the enemy fighters and fell upon their rear. The enemy Indian fighters dispersed into the woods and escaped. Duncan McArthur was about to return, when Captain Smith of the Detroit dragoons overtook him with orders to push forward into enemy territory to the settlements on the Thames in search of provisions. McArthur obeyed and penetrated as far as the Moravian towns, sixty miles from its mouth. There was a house McArthur encountered in his raid in Thames. The owner had fled, but the house was guarded by a file of British soldiers. The group of British soldiers were captured, disarmed, and paroled. McArthur and his militia raiding force seized the boats along the stream and loaded them with enemy supplies they commandeered. On July 17, 1812. McArthur and his militia raiding force returned back to an American base camp with about 200 barrels of flour, 400 blankets, and a quite large quantity of military stores. These were chiefly public property, collected for the British troops at Malden and yet American commander Hull gave a receipt for the whole, public and private.

Engagement at bridge near Fort Malden

On July 19, 1812. American Colonel Duncan McArthur with a recon force combined with 150 Ohio infantry troops under Colonel Lewis Cass are near the bridge leading to Fort Malden. Two British artillery guns fire on the Americans and take out an American cannon. Cass and his fellow Americans capture two British troops after they cross the bridge. All the Americans withdraw with their prisoners safely.

Surrender of Detroit

He and Colonel Lewis Cass were not present at Detroit when Hull surrendered and were greatly angered to hear that Hull had included both of them in the capitulation. When a British officer notified him of the surrender, McArthur is said to have torn off his epaulettes and broke his sword in a fit of rage, although historians note similar stories were told about other officers as well. The British paroled him and McArthur returned to Ohio.

Enlisting in the U.S. Army

He was appointed a

in the

. Shortly thereafter he was placed in charge of the Army of the Northwest following Harrison's resignation.

Duncan McArthur’s raid

Duncan McArthur conducted a cavalry raid deep into Thames Valley. Duncan’s objective was to devastate the settlement’s food supplies which was mainly flour. Duncan and 700 riflemen mounted on horses conducted their raid on on October. Duncan and his mounted riflemen inflicted massive damage on infrastructure, burned many flour mills, surprised Canadian militia in separate engagements, and took provisions. McArthur’s mounted riflemen raided multiple population centers. McArthur’s raiders killed 18 Canadian militiamen, wounded 9 militiamen, and captured 126 Canadian militia soldiers. McArthur avoided contact with the main British army. After completing his raid, McArthur and his mounted riflemen withdrew back to American lines safely. The American raiders suffered only 1 killed and 6 wounded.Ernest A. Cruickshank, ''The County of Norfolk in the War of 1812'', in Zaslow, p.237Ernest A. Cruickshank, ''The County of Norfolk in the War of 1812'', in Zaslow, p.238

End of War of 1812

McArthur did not face much action any further, but he was engaged in negotiating treaties with the Indians. In 1817, he was one of two commissioners (along with Lewis Cass) who negotiated the

, which was signed September 29 of that year with several Native American tribes.

Serving in the House of Representatives

McArthur served intermittently thereafter in the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in Ch ...

and Ohio State Senate. He was elected and served a single term from 1823–1825 in the

before winning election to the governorship in 1830. McArthur served a single term and did not seek re-election.

Death

McArthur was buried in Grandview Cemetery, Chillicothe,

Ross County, Ohio Ross County is a county in the Appalachian region of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 77,093. Its county seat is Chillicothe, the first and third capital of Ohio. Established on August 20, 1798, th ...

, US. The trust established in his will later became the subject of litigation that went before the U.S. Supreme Court in ''

McArthur v. Scott ''McArthur v. Scott'', 113 U.S. 340 (1885), regarded a suit brought to contest a will which directed land to be conveyed to or divided among remaindermen at the expiration of a particular estate, are to be presumed, unless clearly controlled by o ...

''.

Legacy

The small village of

McArthur, Ohio McArthur is a village in Vinton County, Ohio, United States. It is located 27 miles southeast of Chillicothe. The population was 1,701 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Vinton County. History McArthur was laid out and platted in 181 ...

, the seat of Vinton County, is named for him. McArthur founded the city of

Greenfield, Ohio Greenfield is a large village in Highland and Ross counties, Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 4,639. Since the population declined to under 5,000, the Census Bureau may still call it a city, but by Ohio's laws it i ...

in 1799. Greenfield is located at N39 21.11958 W83 22.96284 (GPS coordinates), about 21 miles due west of Chillicothe. State Route 28, which runs between Greenfield and Chillicothe, in 1973 was named as General Duncan McArthur Highway per act of the 113th Ohio General Assembly.

References

External links

National Governors Association
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McArthur, Duncan 1772 births 1839 deaths 19th-century American politicians American militiamen in the War of 1812 American people of the Northwest Indian War American people of Scottish descent Burials at Grandview Cemetery (Chillicothe, Ohio) Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Governors of Ohio Members of the Ohio House of Representatives National Republican Party state governors of the United States Ohio Federalists Ohio National Republicans Ohio state senators People from Dutchess County, New York Politicians from Chillicothe, Ohio Presidents of the Ohio State Senate Speakers of the Ohio House of Representatives United States Army generals United States Army personnel of the War of 1812