In 1777, a British army officer could have changed the outcome of the Revolutionary War with a single shot from his Ferguson rifle. He chose not to fire at General George Washington’s back, according to historian Gene H. Printz writing in the Hernando Sun.
The officer was Major Patrick Ferguson. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1744 and raised in the aristocratic manner of his titled father, James Ferguson, Lord Pitfour. The family purchased Patrick’s commission in the British army when he was 15, and he attended military academy in London. He served with the Royal North British Dragoons, then with the Scots Greys during the Seven Years War in Germany, and returned to England from 1762 to 1768.
Ferguson bought the rank of captain and was assigned to the West Indies during a slave uprising against the sugar plantations. He later sailed with the 70th Regiment of Foot to Halifax, Nova Scotia, before continuing to England in the early 1770s. During his brief stay in Canada, Ferguson learned that American rifles were more accurate than British weapons, especially the long-barreled guns of Pennsylvania and Kentucky.
American rifles had spiral grooves cut inside the barrel. The grooves made a projectile spin as it left the gun, which carried the bullet farther and more accurately. That was a major improvement over the British .75 caliber smoothbore flintlock musket, nicknamed “Brown Bess.” The musket, first introduced in 1722, stayed in use through the 18th and early 19th centuries. A ball fired from a smoothbore does not spin and begins to drop and veer after leaving the barrel, which cuts its range and accuracy.
British battle formations placed soldiers in horizontal lines facing the enemy, filling the air with rifle balls. Many soldiers fell this way, though the volume of lead fired did more of the work than skilled marksmanship.
Originally reported by Hernando Sun
