truckinbutch said:
One of the things that has been overlooked is the fact that Brit military bureaucracy contributed to Ferguson's demise and the outcome of the battle . Re : the Ferguson rifle ; crates of which were warehoused in Baltimore(I think) instead of being issued to his troops because his superiors resisted change .
Had they had the rifle he invented we might still be singing "God Save The Queen".
The Ferguson rifle was a flintlock breech loader, I believe the first ever invented. The trigger guard unscrewed, opening the breech. One loaded the ball, then loose powder, and screwed the breech closed, prime the pan, and the rifle was ready to fire. Also, a rifle is called a rifle because it has rifling in the barrel, which causes the ball to spin, making the firearm much more accurate than a musket, which is a smooth bore, (no rifling). The Ferguson rifle would have been able to fire much more rapidly than the the muzzleloading rifles used by the patriot side, and I thought his troops were armed with that gun. It was long ago that I read about the battle, and I recollect it says Ferguson's men were armed with rifles, (perhaps not the Ferguson though) as were the Patriots armed with their long rifles, and that this fight was the first time rifles were used exclusively on the opposing sides. I have an early flintlock Kentucky rifle, and although you aren't supposed to, I've shot it. It is extremely accurate. Within it's range limitations, it's every bit as accurate as a modern over the counter rifle. Those over mountain boys were all riflemen, hunters, and one of their favorite pastimes was shooting matches. They also had the cover, so it makes it tough to be the guy out in the open when every one of your opponents is capable of hitting his mark.
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(Significant American History)
