Matthew Arbuckle

Matthew Arbuckle (1778–1851) was a career soldier in the US Army closely identified with the Indian Territory for the last thirty years of his life.

He was born 28 December 1778 in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia), the fourth of six sons of Capt. Matthew Arbuckle, Sr. and Frances (Hunter) Arbuckle. The father was a veteran of the Battle of Point Pleasant during Lord Dunmore's War and later distinguished himself in the American Revolution.

Little is known of his early life, but on 3 March 1799 he was commissioned ensign in the 3rd Infantry Regiment, and advanced to first lieutenant within eight months. In 1802, the Army disbanded the 3rd Infantry and transferred him to the 2nd Infantry Regiment, where he was promoted to captain in 1806. He returned to the 3rd Infantry as a major in 1812. His regiment was assigned to various posts in the American South during the War of 1812. In 1814, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and became the regiment's second-ranking officer. The 3rd Infantry was under General Andrew Jackson during and after the war. A family story exists that Arbuckle served on Jackson's staff during the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, but no evidence has been found for this claim. Arbuckle led a successful expedition against the "Fowltown Indians" of Southern Georgia in 1817, during the opening phase of the First Seminole War.

In 1820, the Army promoted Arbuckle to colonel and gave him command of the 7th Infantry Regiment, four of whose companies he led in 1821 to reinforce Fort Smith on the Arkansas River. In 1824, he moved the regiment farther west, establishing Cantonments (later Forts) Gibson and later Towson, the first military posts in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). As commander at Fort Gibson, he was responsible for constructing roads and maintaining peaceful relations between the Indian tribes indigenous to the region and those then forced to migrate to Indian Territory. After ten years of this service, he was breveted to brigadier general. In the spring of 1834, on the eve of the First Dragoon Expedition (also called the Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition), Brigadier General Arbuckle was replaced as regional commander by General Henry Leavenworth and returned to Virginia. General Leavenworth, however, unexpectedly died in July 1834, and the Army recalled Brigadier General Arbuckle to command Fort Gibson.

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