Who invented the hydraulic ram?

The hydraulic ram has been used to pump water from streams since the late 1770s when the first generation ram was invented in England by John Whitehurst. A few years later the pump was improved by the French, when a value was added that automated the action. In the U.S. the hydraulic ram built by S.S. Hallet and J. Cerneau was patented around 1809.