Early Life
A nephew of Major General James Murray, Patrick Ferguson (1744-1780) had studied at a military academy in London and then served with the Royal North British Dragoons in Germany during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), where he saw heavy combat. Unfortunately, he became ill and returned to England to recuperate from 1762 to 1768. Once he had recovered, he joined a regiment serving in Tobago, where he helped put down a slave revolt, but he caught a tropical fever and was sent back to England in 1774.

Breechloading Rifles
Ferguson then started tinkering with breech loading rifles. Muskets are loaded by the front end of the barrel while a breechloading rifle is loaded from the rear of the barrel. Unlike muskets, which can not reliably hit anything past 80 yards, rifles are accurate past 200 yards. They were not widely used because they take longer to load and they quickly became dirty.

The type of breechloading rifle commonly used during the Revolutionary War had been developed by Isaac de la Chaumette, a French gunmaker who had emigrated to England and patented the rifle in 1721. Ferguson’s contribution was to figure out that a slight modification to the spiraled grooves in the barrel would ensure that the rifle stayed clean and he patented his new version in 1776. However, over time, his contribution has become magnified so that many consider him to be responsible for inventing rifles.

American Revolution
What is more impressive is that he convinced the British army to produce 100 of his rifles and to permit him to organize a company of riflemen when the American Revolution (1775-1783) started. Unfortunately, Ferguson’s small command of riflemen was broken up when he lost the use of his right arm during the Battle of the Brandywine. Ferguson also claimed to have had George Washington in his sights during the battle but spared him, although witnesses have stated that it was not Washington. Lieutenant General William Howe, the senior British commander in America, had resented that Ferguson and his company were essentially forced upon him by headquarters in England, so while Ferguson was recuperating, Howe had the men assigned to different units and the rifles put into storage.

Fortunately, when he returned to active duty, Lieutenant General Henry Clinton, Howe’s successor, liked him and gave him a series of important positions. Ferguson brought an innovative mind to the war but he had not thought out the consequences of all of his ideas. For example, he pushed for the increase of light troops instead of simply relying on fighting in formation, but he also wanted to burn the houses and crops of suspected rebels, even though such a campaign would have turned everyone against the British.

Ferguson took part in the British siege of Charleston in April 1780 but his big chance for glory came when he was made Inspector General of the Militia on May 22, where he was responsible for raising and training loyalist militia. This was actually a very challenging position since Tory militia had a record of coming out on the losing end during encounters with rebel partisans. While Ferguson eagerly accepted the position, Major General Charles Cornwallis may have given him the appointment simply to rid himself of Clinton’s protégé, since he and Clinton were not getting along well by that time.

However, he must have had some respect for Ferguson’s ability, since in late August 1780, Ferguson was told to lead his American volunteers and South Carolina loyalist militia to protect the army’s left flank from partisans, while Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton was given the right flank. Following the destruction of the main rebel army in the South at Camden on August 16, Cornwallis felt that the way was clear to advance into North Carolina, so as long as the increasingly irritating partisans could be kept at bay. Despite giving him the assignment, Cornwallis worried that Ferguson thirsted for glory too much to focus on the key task of guarding the flank of the main army. Cornwallis was right to be concerned since Ferguson rashly accepted battle with a force of rebel militia of equal size on terrain that favored the enermy and led his men to bloody defeat at King's Mountain on October 7, 1780. Almost all of his men were either killed or captured and Ferguson himself died during the last minutes of the battle.    

Further Reading:

The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas-John Buchanan, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997.

The author’s descriptions of the terrain show that he has spent a great deal of time visiting historical sites in the Carolinas, which bring the terrain to life for the reader, although the overly detailed descriptions can be a bit distracting at times. Although it focuses on the Carolinas Campaign (February 1780 to August 1781), the author provides brief but insightful biographical sketches and portraits of all of the major leaders in the South on either side in order to provide more depth. It is not a one stop examination of the Carolinas Campaign since it ends with the battle at Guilford Courthouse in March 1781, hence the name. Buchanan is the rare historian who is an excellent researcher and an entertaining writer, and he has produced a superb book that sets the standard for other works in the field.

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