Military officer; born in
Dutchess county, N. Y., June 14, 1772.
His father removed to the
Ohio frontier of
Pennsylvania when
Duncan was only eight years of age. At eighteen He volunteered in defence of the frontier against the Indians, and served in
Harmar's campaign (see
Harmar, Josiah ).
McArthur became a surveyor, and,
purchasing large tracts, became possessed of much landed wealth.
He was a member of the Ohio legislature in 1805, and in
[
5]
1808 became major-general of the
State militia.
When war was kindling he was chosen colonel of the Ohio volunteers, and was second in command at the surrender of
Detroit (q. v.)In the spring of 1813 he was promoted to brigadier-general, and in 1814 succeeded
General Harrison in command of the Army of the West.
Late in the summer of 1814, the critical situation of
General Brown's army on the
Niagara frontier induced
General McArthur to make a terrifying raid in the western part of
Canada, to divert the attention of the
British.
He arrived at
Detroit Oct. 9, with about 700 mounted men which he had raised in
Kentucky and
Ohio.
Late in that month he left
Detroit with 750 men on fleet horses, and, with five pieces of cannon, passed up the lake and
St. Clair River towards
Lake Huron, to deceive the Canadians.
On the morning of the 25th he suddenly crossed the river, pushed on in hot haste to the
Moravian towns, and on Nov. 4 entered the village of
Oxford.
He appeared unheralded, and the inhabitants were greatly terrified.
There he disarmed and paroled the militia, and threatened instant destruction to the property of any one who should give notice to any British post of his coming.
Two men did so, and their houses were laid in ashes.
On the following day he pushed on to
Burford, where the militia were casting up intrenchments.
They fled at his approach, and the whole region was excited with alarm.
The story went before him that he had 2,000 men in his train.
He aimed at
Burlington Heights, but at the
Mohawk settlement, on the
Grand River, near
Brantford, he was confronted by a large body of
Indians, militia, and dragoons.
Another British force, with artillery, was not far distant, so
McArthur turned southward, down the
Long Point road, and drove some militia at a post on the
Grand River.
There he killed and wounded seven men and took 131 prisoners. His own loss was one killed and six wounded. He pushed on, destroying flouring-mills at work for the
British army in
Canada, and, finding a net of peril gathering around him, he turned his face westward and hastened to
Detroit, pursued, from the
Thames, by 1,100 British regulars.
He arrived at Sanwich, Nov. 17, and there discharged his band.
That raid was one of the boldest operations of the war. He skimmed over hundreds of miles of British territory with the loss of only one man. In the fall of 1815 he was elected to the Ohio legislature, and in 1816 he was appointed a commissioner to conclude treaties with the
Indian tribes.
He was again an Ohio legislator and speaker of the
House, and in 1819 was sent to Congress.
He was governor of
Ohio from 1830 to 1832, and while in that office he met with a serious accident, from which he never recovered.
He died near
Chillicothe, O., April 28, 1839.
