Major Patrick Ferguson (4 June 1744 – 7 October 1780) was a British Army officer who served in the Seven Years' War and American War of Independence. Born in the Pitfour estate in Aberdeenshire, Ferguson was commissioned into the Royal North British Dragoons at the rank of cornet in 1758 and was sent with his regiment to Continental Europe in 1760. He served in Flanders and Germany until returning to Britain due to a leg ailment. Following his recovery Ferguson served on garrison duty before transferring to the 70th Regiment of Foot at the rank of captain in 1768 and commanding a battalion company in Tobago. Following his return to Britain in 1774 Ferguson undertook light infantry training and invented the Ferguson rifle.
In March 1777 Ferguson left Britain and sailed to North America, where he raised Ferguson's Corps of Riflemen to serve in the American War of Independence. Ferguson participated in the Philadelphia campaign and was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine in September. Though his unit was disbanded the day after the battle Ferguson remained in North America and in October 1778 carried out two raids on American forces at Chestnut Neck and Little Egg Harbor. In October 1779 he was promoted to major in the 71st Regiment of Foot and in May 1780 was sent to North Carolina to recruit Loyalist soldiers. Pursuing a force of Patriot militia to the Appalachian Mountains, Ferguson was killed at the Battle of Kings Mountain in October 1780.
Patrick Ferguson was born on 4 June 1744 in the Pitfour estate in Aberdeenshire. He was the second son and fourth child of the Scottish advocate James Ferguson and his wife Anne Murray, a sister of the literary patron Patrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank. Through his parents, Ferguson knew a number of major figures in the Scottish Enlightenment, including the philosopher and historian David Hume, on whose recommendation he read Samuel Richardson's 1748 novel Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady when he was fifteen, and the dramatist John Home. Ferguson had numerous first cousins through his mother's family: these included Sir William Pulteney, George Johnstone and Sir James Pulteney.
Seven Years' War and rifle invention
Ferguson's family had a long tradition of military service and encouraged by his maternal uncle Lieutenant-colonel James Murray he decided to pursue a career as a soldier from a young age. In 1756 Ferguson was sent to study at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and after graduating Ferguson's father purchased a cornet's commission for him in the British Army's 2nd (Royal North British) Regiment of Dragoons in 1758. Ferguson was sent with his regiment to Continental Europe in 1760 as part of the Seven Years' War, serving in Flanders in Germany until a leg ailment – most likely tuberculosis in the knee – forced him to return home. After recovering he served with his regiment on garrison duty in Britain, as the war ended in 1763.
In 1768 Ferguson's father purchased him a captain's commission in the 70th Regiment of Foot, which was then stationed in the British West Indies; the rank meant Ferguson commanded a regimental company, with his being stationed in Tobago. Ferguson set sail from Britain for Tobago in late 1768 and upon his arrival assumed command of his company. In 1770 Ferguson purchased the "Castara" slave plantation in Tobago and after his death the plantation was inherited by his younger brother George, who had managed it since the early 1770s and developed it into a successful enterprise which exported rum, sugar and molasses to Europe.
Showing great care for his company, Ferguson ordered them to take advantage of the tropical climate of Tobago and grow vegetables to supplement their rations, which primarily comprised corned beef. While in Tobago Ferguson contracted a disease which was most likely extrapulmonary tuberculosis, which compounded the tubercular arthritis he already had in his knees. Ferguson briefly visited the Thirteen Colonies of British America before returning to Britain in 1774. Following his return home Ferguson took part in light infantry training, coming to the attention of Major-general William Howe.
A major concern for Ferguson during this period was the British army's lack of rifles. Inspired by the earlier designs of the Huguenot gunsmith Isaac de la Chaumette, he began developing a breech-loading rifle and in 1774 contracted the head armourer at the Tower of London John Cooper to design such a rifle to his specifications. Over the course of the same year Ferguson's and Cooper's efforts resulted in the invention of the Ferguson rifle. The new rifle used an innovative falling screwed breechblock and was capable of firing between six and eight rounds a minute under any weather condition.
Ferguson patented his new rifle in 1776 and on 1 June of that year demonstrated it at Woolwich in windy and rainy conditions in front of several high-ranking British officers, who were impressed by the gun's rate of fire, accuracy, ability to be fired while prone and immunity to poor weather. Ferguson subsequently demonstrated the rifle in front of George III and Queen Charlotte at Windsor Castle to the same result. Ferguson's superiors proceeded to place an order for 100 copies of his new rifle, which were to be used by a new light infantry unit which Ferguson would raise in North America for service in the ongoing American War of Independence.
As Ferguson prepared to set sail for North America complications arose over the manufacture of his new weapon. Though the Industrial Revolution had already begun Britain lacked the factories necessary to mass-produce firearms; instead, all guns made in Britain were produced by individual gunsmiths. As Ferguson's rifle took much longer time to produce than the British army's standard issue Brown Bess musket only 67 were ready by the time Ferguson was ready to travel to North America. In March 1777 Ferguson set sail to North America along with all 67 copies of his rifle to join Howe's army, which was then stationed in New York and New Jersey as part of the campaign to control both regions.
New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey
In Spring 1777 Ferguson arrived North America and began travelling among the various British infantry regiments stationed there to demonstrate his new rifle. Recruiting 100 men, mostly from the light companies of the 6th Regiment of Foot and 14th Regiment of Foot, he raised a new unit which was known as Ferguson's Corps of Riflemen. Ferguson trained his men to use his new rifle, though 33 soldiers had to be equipped with Brown Bess muskets due to the remaining rifles not being sent from Britain until June. When he deemed them ready Ferguson led his unit to join the command led by Lieutenant-general Wilhelm von Knyphausen in New York.
Ferguson's Corps of Riflemen proceeded to participate in the Philadelphia campaign, where Ferguson was wounded on 11 September 1777 at the Battle of Brandywine when he was shot through the right elbow joint. At the battle he had had the chance to shoot two American officers but decided not to do so. A surgeon told Ferguson in the hospital that wounded American officers had said that General George Washington had been in the area at the time. Ferguson subsequently wrote that even if the officer was Washington he did not regret his decision. The officer's identity remains uncertain; some historians have suggested that instead of Washington one of the officers was Casimir Pulaski.
Howe disbanded Ferguson's unit on 12 September; the men were returned to their units and the rifles placed into storage or given to other units. For several months after being wounded Ferguson was at risk of having his arm amputated. During this time he received news that his father had died on 25 June. Ferguson eventually recovered and although his right arm was permanently crippled resumed military duties in May 1778 under the command of Lieutenant-general Sir Henry Clinton. In October Ferguson was assigned to lead a raid in southern New Jersey to counter American privateers based around Chestnut Neck in the Little Egg Harbor River who had been attacking British shipping. On 6 October Ferguson led 300 British regulars and 100 New Jersey Loyalists in an inconclusive attack on Chestnut Neck, capturing and destroying supplies before withdrawing.