Historical reference: Do not rely on this information. It is very old. About this collection
Ferguson, Patrick (1744-1780), was born in Aberdeenshire, and served in 1752 in the army operating in Germany. In 1776 he invented a breech-loading rifle. He was at the battle of Brandywine (1777), where he had an opportunity of killing Washington, but refrained. He died in South Carolina.