David Dalrymple
Captain Patrick Ferguson’s Experimental Corps of Riflemen
The first series of skirmishes and pitched battles for Captain Patrick Ferguson’s Experimental Corps of Riflemen was not in the Brandywine campaign but in New Jersey. New Jersey saw the first action of a military breechloading rifle and a military unit trained, equipped and deployed effectively with its use.
This session will discuss Captain Ferguson’s Riflemen activities, from their landing at Staten Island on May 26, 1777 to their departure for the Brandywine campaign in the early part of July 1777.
We will explore the Lord Howes feint into central NJ to lure General Washington’s army off the Watchung mountains and into open battle at the end of the Forage wars of the spring of 1777. This culminated with the battle of Short Hills. We will also delve into Ferguson’s advanced weapons, his military breechloading rifle and his light field piece. These weapons were the basis of his special military force.
[Recorded August 13, 2022.]
David Dalrymple (Twitter @fixswordslads, Instagram @Fergusonschosenmen) is an award-winning author with a 39 year career in Emergency Services. He has a life long interest in the American War of Independence and has been intensively researching Major Patrick Ferguson’s various commands during the AWI, his staff activities, and his advanced weapons.