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| COL Ferguson was born to CPT and Mrs. R. W. Ferguson on December 11, 1877. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for extraordinary bravery above and beyond the call of duty, while serving as first lieutenant with the 36th U.S. Infantry in the Phillipine Campaign of the Spanish-American War. In this action at Porac, Luzon, Phillipine Islands on September 28, 1899, he single-handedly charged a body of the enemy and enabled his unit to advance. He had previously received a citation for gallantry in action while serving as a Corporal with Company E, 20th Kansas Volunteer Regiment. That action is described in the Burlington Daily Republican on February 21, 1923. "The insurgents were intrenched strongly at the Rio Grande and General Wheaton and his brigade, including the 20th Kansas, were bent on taking the position, by long odds the most formidable yet encountered. The ties and girders had been removed from the bridge and a small forticifaction at the end of the bridge commanded the approach so effectually that any attempt to carry it would be suicide. Colonel Funston was anxious to make the effort, however, and Ferguson volunteered to cross the bridge in the darkness and determine the feasibility of an attack. Stripping off his clothes, he made his way along the slippery and dangerous footing, where a misstep meant death in the river beneath, and the slightest noise meant death from an insurgent bullet. Ferguson got up to within 20 feet of the insurgent fortifactions and then returned. He reported that any assault was inpracticable and the project was abandoned. The next day Privates Trembley and White swam the river, and with 14 men, Colonel Funston put to rout 3,000 insurgents and captured the position, thereby winning the stars of a brigadier general." COL Ferguson later served in the Mexican Border Campaign and World War I. At the outbreak of World War I, he was assigned to Fort Riley , where he was an instructor at the first officers' training camp. He then became Chief Instructor at the second officers' camp at Fort Snelling. Afterward, he was assigned to the War Department as an assistant adjutant general of the U.S. Army, in charge of enlisted personnel. He received high praise from Secretary Baker and General Pershing. During the last five years of his military career, he served with distinction as Secretary, General Service Schools, Fort Leavenworth. He was instrumental in organizing the books division of the Fort Leavenworth schools, which publishes military textbooks for U.S. Army officers. COL Ferguson died unexpectedly the morning on February 20, 1923, at Fort Leavenworth's hospital, following an operation for a hernia. He was 45 years old and left his wife, Mrs. Sarah Emily Ferguson. He had been expected to join his parents, brother and sister at Burlington, for his parents golden wedding anniversary on the day he died. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery (section 3, grave number 4016). The National Guard facility at Burlington is dedicated in memory of his service to the State of Kansas as the Ferguson Memorial Armory.
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