At the age of 15 a commission was purchased for him, and he entered upon active service on July 12, 1759, as a cornet in the Royal North British Dragoons. With a slight frame, Ferguson was not an individual of commanding appearance, and it might have been thought that he was poorly suited to military service. This shortcoming was made up in soldierly determination, and he was also blessed by inheritance with a serious disposition, unusual ability, sound judgment, and energy in ample measure. From the plains of Flanders and Germany to the spur of the Kings Mountain range, where he was killed, Ferguson demonstrated his soldierly qualities. For example, on June 30, 1760, he displayed his characteristic contempt for danger at the Battle of Minden. In this action he returned in the face of enemy hussars to retrieve a pistol which dropped from his holster as his horse jumped a ditch. Such an action was to be expected of him, if he was to be worthy of his name, which was derived from the Gaelic “Feargachus,” meaning one of a bold, haughty, and fiery disposition. It was difficult for his mother to watch Ferguson embark on a military career at such an early age. On August 14, 1762, her brother, Maj. Gen. James Murray, wrote her from Quebec: “You must no longer look upon him as your son. He is the son of Mars and will be unworthy of his father if he does not give proofs of contempt of pain and danger.” [Illustration: _Bust of Maj. Patrick Ferguson, British commander at Kings Mountain._ Courtesy John Wilson Smith, Peterhead, Scotland.] Sickness interrupted Ferguson’s service in the field from 1762 to 1768. He was not idle during the period of his recovery in Scotland and entered actively into public discussion of the extension of the militia laws of England to Scotland. This activity gave him some early insight into the problem and prepared him for the role he later played in the Carolinas as Inspector of Militia. He enjoyed a second leave of absence from military service just prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. In this period he pursued an intensive study of military science and tactics and developed the Ferguson rifle. In 1777 Ferguson was sent to America with the reputation of being one of the best, if not the best, marksmen in the British army. At the time he held a captaincy, which was attained on September 1, 1768. He was in command of a corps of at least 100 riflemen, whom he had personally trained in the use of his new breechloading rifle. During the earlier years of his service in America, Ferguson participated in numerous actions in the North. Among these was the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, in which he was so severely wounded in the right arm that its usefulness was impaired during the remainder of his life.