The world's first military breechloader.
The Ferguson rifle was interesting, but it is really relegated to the "what if" or "if only" category. As the linked article noted, breechloading blackpowder rifles did not become widely accepted until metallic cartridges were developed. But within a couple of decades, smokeless powder was in use and most militaries with an ounce of sense rapidly phased out their blackpowder rifles.
It should surprise nobody that the US Army was one of the last to make the switch.
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It's interesting to note that the Prussians adopted their Prussian Needle Gun, a breech-loading rifle, in 1848, while the American Civil War in 1861-1864 was fought with muzzle-loaders (albeit rifled and with percussion caps rather than powder pans). The Minie ball was still good enough to obsolete 18th century tactics and therefore bring forth trench warfare and maneuver warfare, but the tactical and strategic innovations of the Civil War decidedly were not matched by the technical innovations of the war.
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