Duncan McArthur (1772 – April 29, 1839) was a military officer and a Federalist and National Republican politician from Ohio.

Shortly thereafter he was placed in charge of the Army of the Northwest, serving through 1817 and negotiating the Treaty of Fort Meigs of 1817 to ratify peace and land cessions with Native American tribes.

[3][4] He was born to Scottish immigrants in Dutchess County in the Province of New York,[5] McArthur grew up in western Pennsylvania and later moved to Kentucky, where he was employed as an Indian ranger.

[6] McArthur and his friend Alexander McGuffey volunteered in 1790 at Fort Pitt for expeditions against Native Americans during the Northwest Indian War,[7] serving as a scout under Generals Josiah Harmar and Anthony Wayne.

McArthur moved across the Ohio River in 1797 to Chillicothe, where he gained wealth by his land speculations in the Northwest Territory.

[10] To implement his plan, Hull resorted to deception, which began when his troops collected all the boats and canoes they could find.

[10] At the same time, the American regiment commanded by Duncan McArthur marched from Detroit to Springwells, also observed by the British.

[10] 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.

[10] Finding no activity at Springwells, the British believed the Americans had already crossed the river and marched on Fort Malden.

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 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 to an American base camp with about 200 barrels of flour, 400 blankets, and a quite large quantity of military stores.

Duncan and his mounted riflemen inflicted massive damage on infrastructure, burned many flour mills, surprised Canadian militia in separate engagements, and took provisions.

In 1817, he was one of two commissioners (along with Lewis Cass) who negotiated the Treaty of Fort Meigs, which was signed September 29 of that year with several Native American tribes.