FERGUSON, PATRICK

born 1744, Pitfours, Aberdeenshire, Scot. died Oct. 7, 1780, Kings Mountain, S.C., U.S. British soldier, marksman, and inventor of the Ferguson flintlock rifle. Ferguson served in the British army from the age of 14. In 1777, while he was a major at the Battle of Brandywine (Pa.), his right arm was permanently crippled. A year later he resumed active duty but was killed in action in the Battle of Kings Mountain. Ferguson's rifle (patented 1776), one of the earliest practical breechloaders, was considered the best military firearm used in the American Revolutionary War. His breechlock was grooved to prevent the action's being jammed with powder. The rifle could be fired six times a minute, a major advance in firepower for the time, but because of official conservatism not more than 200 of them were used in the war.