He had a serious unhandsome countenance which, at
casual glance, might not arrest attention; but when he spoke he
became magnetic, by reason of the intelligence and innate force
that gleamed in his eyes and the convincing sincerity of his
manner. He was admired and respected by his brother officers and
by the commanders under whom he had served, and he was loved by
his men.
He had seen his first service in the Seven Years' War, having
joined the British army in Flanders at the age of fifteen; and he
had early distinguished himself for courage and coolness. In
1768, as a captain of infantry, he quelled an insurrection of the
natives on the island of St. Vincent in the West Indies. Later,
at Woolwich, he took up the scientific study of his profession of
arms. He not only became a crack shot, but he invented a new type
of rifle which he could load at the breach without ramrod and so
quickly as to fire seven times in a minute. Generals and
statesmen attended his exhibitions of shooting; and even the King
rode over at the head of his guards to watch Ferguson rapidly
loading and firing.
In America under Cornwallis, Ferguson had the reputation of being
the best shot in the army; and it was soon said that, in his
quickness at loading and firing, he excelled the most expert
American frontiersman.
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