Military, Society, Uncategorized

America’s Other 9/11: Ferguson and the Shot Not Heard ‘Round The World

Mention 9/11 and we are instantly catapulted into the past with keen memories of where we were and what we were doing. It is a monumental day in American history, both for its infamy and for the honor on display in the response. So too, was another September 11, 1777.

Captain Patrick Ferguson is a name unfamiliar to most Americans and it shouldn’t be. It can be argued that Ferguson’s gallantry at Brandywine Creek was the turning point of the Revolutionary War — and he was a British soldier. The 33-year old Scotsman, attached to Royal North British Dragoons, was the reputed “finest shot in the British Army.” On this 9/11, Ferguson was with a band of snipers covering the advance of the 12,500 man British force marching toward Philadelphia to take the City and split the American forces. In opposition was a rag-tag, throw-together gang of American soldiers held together by the sheer will of General George Washington.

Son of a judge and child of the Enlightenment, Ferguson was anything but your ordinary British officer. Oh, he was tough enough, having been continually tested during the Seven Years’ War which had left him lame and his military career on-hold for six years. He was also bored with his non-combat post, and yearned to see action in America. Historian Lyman C. Draper writes of him, “No man, perhaps, of his rank and years, ever attained more military distinction in his day than Patrick Ferguson.”

Sporting a repeating rifle of his own design, Ferguson lay in wait for any threat to the advancing Redcoats. Seeing a group of American officers on a trail ahead, Ferguson ordered three of his company to advance with him to a ledge to pick off the unsuspecting revolutionaries. On that fall day, Ferguson had a job to do, and was uniquely positioned by technology and happenstance to do it well. The rifle he designed was a quantum leap over the venerable British “Brown Bess” musket with its long muzzle-loading barrel that exposed its operator to return fire. Ferguson’s rifle was a breech-loader operated by simply turning the trigger guard. As he would later say of the unsuspecting colonial officer in his sights, “I could have lodged half a dozen balls in or about him, before he was out of my reach….”

Camouflaged by their green uniforms in the dense forest of eastern Pennsylvania, the snipers were a perfect blend of stealth and surprise. Ferguson and his men saw the bright tunic of the Hussar cavalryman followed by a tall  senior American officer in a high cocked hat riding a bay horse. Distasteful of an ambush, Ferguson called to the men to give them a sporting chance before the inevitable result. The American stopped, looked at Ferguson, and then turned to ride on. Ferguson called again, and this time the officer turned to look directly at the Scotsman, who, by now, had leveled his rifle just below the cocked hat. The officer paused, turned again, and slowly cantered off.

Ferguson did not fire. He would later explain, ” … it was not pleasant to fire at the back of an unoffending individual, who was acquitting himself very coolly of his duty—so I let him alone.”  The recipient of Ferguson’s gallantry and largesse was, of course, General Washington, who would lose that day at Brandywine Creek, but who would ultimately win the War learning from the mistakes made there.

9/11, it seems, is a recurring day of honor.

Source: AmericanHistory.net (excerpted from, “The Marksman Who Refused to Shoot George Washington,” By Ernest B. Furgurson)

 –Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

26 thoughts on “America’s Other 9/11: Ferguson and the Shot Not Heard ‘Round The World”

  3. Samuel’s stone at the National Cemetery, just to bring it a bit closer. This is only seven miles from the spot from which they began their march to Kings Mountain and their rendezvous with Major Patrick Ferguson.

  6. BULLROOT: Yours and mine would stood together with heads bowed that morning of September 26, 1760, listening to the Reverend Samuel Doak utter his famous prayer and exhortation just before they left the fort to march down Gap Creek trail and off into history:

    * * * * * * * * * * *

    My countrymen, you are about to set out on an expedition which is full of hardships and dangers, but one in which the Almighty will attend you. The Mother Country has her hand upon you, these American colonies, and takes that for which our fathers planted their homes in the wilderness – OUR LIBERTY. Taxation without representation and the quartering of soldiers in the homes of our people without their consent are evidence that the crown of England would take from its American Subjects the last vestige of Freedom. Your brethren across the mountains are crying like Macedonia unto your help. God forbid that you should refuse to hear and answer their call – but the call of your brethren is not all. The enemy is marching hither to destroy your homes. Brave men, you are not unacquainted with battle. Your hands have already been taught to war and your fingers to fight. You have wrested these beautiful valleys of the Holston and Watauga from the savage hand. Will you tarry now until the other enemy carries fire and sword to your very doors? No, it shall not be. Go forth then in the strength of your manhood to the aid of your brethren, the defense of your liberty and the protection of your homes. And may the God of Justice be with you and give you victory.

    Let us pray. Almighty and gracious God! Thou hast been the refuge and strength of Thy people in all ages. In time of sorest need we have learned to come to Thee – our Rock and our Fortress. Thou knowest the dangers and snares that surround us on march and in battle. Thou knowest the dangers that constantly threaten the humble, but well beloved homes, which Thy servants have left behind them. Oh, in Thine infinite mercy, save us from the cruel hand of the savage, and of tyrant. Save the unprotected homes while fathers and husbands and sons are far away fighting for freedom and helping the oppressed. Thou, who promised to protect the sparrow in its flight, keep ceaseless watch, by day and by night, over our loved ones. The helpless women and little children, we commit to Thy care. Thou wilt not leave them or forsake them in times of loneliness and anxiety and terror. Oh, God of Battle, arise in Thy might. Avenge the slaughter of Thy people. Confound those who plot for our destruction. Crown this mighty effort with victory, and smite those who exalt themselves against liberty and justice and truth. Help us as good soldiers to wield the SWORD OF THE LORD AND GIDEON. AMEN.

  7. Captain Robert Brashears and Private Samuel Brashears, respectively. They were part of the Troop of Overmountain Men. Neither returned to the Watauga valley after Kings Mountain, but were part of the group who chose to fight on. They joined up with Nathaniel Greene and were in a number of battles, ending up at Yorktown, fighting in the battle that defeated Cornwallis. That was just a few days after Samuel’s seventeenth birthday. He stayed in the Army, retiring as a Captain.

    I have also heard the stories of how Ferguson’s body may have been misused. Those were tough, hard men who were enraged about Ferguson’s ill-considered threat. I would not be surprised.

    Robert is buried in Roane County, TN, and Samuel has a stone in the Mountain Home National Cemetery. He is the only Revolutionary war soldier in that cemetery.

    From the National Cemetery website:

    BRASHEARS, SAMUEL
    CAPT ARMY CORPS
    REVOLUTIONARY WAR
    DATE OF BIRTH: 08/06/1763
    DATE OF DEATH: 12/25/1829
    BURIED AT: SECTION MA SITE 48
    MOUNTAIN HOME NATIONAL CEMETERY

  8. My gggg-grandfather was also among those that assembled at Sycamore Shoals on the Watauga River to march over the mountains to Kings Mountain.

  10. Wow! I didn’t realize that I would be going back to History class today! Thanks to Otteray for that personal history lesson.

  11. Otteray Scribe,

    Were your ancestors loyalists recruited by Ferguson or were they his fellow countrymen assigned to him by Cornwallis?

    I had read that the rebels who killed Ferguson also “ill-used” his corpse before they buried him.

  13. One other thing. Ferguson was a brilliant man who can claim to have invented the breech loading rifle in 1770, ten years before his death. This rifle shot a bullet of .615 caliber. A soldier could get off a rate of fire of seven rounds a minute, an unheard of rate of fire in those days.

    It was a difficult weapon to produce, so not enough of them could be made to make a difference in the war. Had the English been able to make enough of them, it is likely they would have made a difference in the outcome of the war.

  14. A bit of additional history. Major Ferguson commanded the Loyalist troops at the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780. He had sent an ultimatum to the Watauga settlement in and around what is now Elizabethton, TN. He advised them they should submit to the King, or they would, “…lay waste to your country with fire and sword.”

    The troop of 900 Wataugan Patriots set out from their fort on the banks of the Watauga river and made the march over the mountains to challenge Major Ferguson and his loyalists. There was a pitched battle, but the outnumbered Patriots routed the Loyalists and killed Ferguson who had tried to disguise himself by putting a hunting shirt over his uniform shirt. He was hit by at least seven bullets from Patriot rifles and fell from his horse with one foot caught in a stirrup. He died on the spot.

    That battle is personal to me because my gggg-grandfather was a Captain in that troop and his son, my ggg-grandfather was a 16 year old Private. It is believed the shot that actually killed Ferguson was by another sixteen year old named Robert Young who had named his long rifle “Sweet Lips.” Our family history indicates that my teenage ancestor also put a bullet into him.

    Those Wataugan settlers marched into history, known forever after as the Troop of Overmountain Men.

  15. Blouise Chadd’s Ford is on the Baltimore Pike. It is approximately 10 miles from where my daughter went to college. I am starting to miss going to that area twice a year.

  16. I have read this story just recently, probably in some of the material mespo recommended and have visited Chadd’s Ford area often as we have friends living nearby.

    If planning a Revolutionary War vacation for oneself or one’s children, I highly recommend including Chadd’s Ford … the Brandywine River Museum is close by and, quite possibly, one of the most peaceful places on earth. ( three generations of Wyeths are included in the collections)

  19. Mespo,
    That was the first time I have ever heard of that historical event. Thanks for sharing it. All these years I have always read that it was only the American soldiers who secreted themselves and disguised themselves to blend into the scenery and the British just rode into the open field for battles.

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