The Ferguson Rifle,Inspired by American frontiersmen and sharpshooters during the American Revolutio
The Ferguson Rifle,Inspired by American frontiersmen and sharpshooters during the American Revolution, British Major Patrick Ferguson created this new rifle. During the American Revolution frontiersmen armed with Pennsylvania Long Rifles often acted as sharpshooters, killing officers and men from hundreds of yards away. In fact it was a bullet from Daniel Morgan’s sharpshooters that felled Gen. Simon Frasier and turned the tide of the battle of Saratoga for the Americans.Maj. Ferguson recognized that Britain needed light infantry who used similar tactics. So he created a regiment of marksmen armed with his new Ferguson Rifle. The Ferguson Rifle had much more accuracy and range than the standard smoothbore musket. Furthermore it was a breechloader (was loaded from the rear) which made for faster reloading and eliminated the problem of fowling customary with muzzleloading rifles. Finally the Ferguson was sturdier than the Pennslyvania Rifle and also was equipped with a bayonet lug, something the PA rifle lacked.At the Battle of Brandywine on Sept. 11, 1777, Major Patrick Ferguson took up a hiding position and drew aim at an opposing Continental Officer. Ferguson could not pull the trigger however, believing that killing a fellow gentleman in such a way was uncivilized. He would later be shot in the arm and while recuperating, discover that the man he was aiming at was not any ordinary American Officer, but none other then Continental Army Commander Gen. George Washington.While George Washington would lead the Americans to victory and become the first president of a young new republic, Major Ferguson would be killed in action at the Battle of King Mountains in in October of 1780. His body would be unceremoniously urinated on by American soldiers before being buried in an unmarked grave. The Ferguson rifle would have little effect on the war, and only 100 would be produced.How would things be different if he pulled that trigger? -- source link
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