Dr. Richard J. Gatling was always very interested in working with rotating devices and machinery. He invented many useful items during the 1800's such as a modernized ship's screw propeller, automated seed sower, and his most famous accomplishment, the Gatling Gun. What made the Gatling Gun so special was that it could shoot multiple bullets at once. This hand cranked gun consisted of 6 barrels locked into the central firing cylinder, and was able to shoot 200 rounds per minute, which was unheard of at the time!
Gatling happened to live next door to a Mrs. Colt, widow of Samuel Colt, creator of the Colt Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Company. The relationship quickened the advancement of the fire arm, although Colt did consume the Gatling company in the future. Gatling wrote letters to President Abraham Lincoln imploring for the use of his guns during the Civil War.
"It occurred to me if I could invent a machine--a gun-- which could by its rapidity of fire, enable one man to do as much battle duty as a hundred, that it would, to a great extent, supersede the necessity of large armies, and consequently, exposure to battle and disease be greatly diminished."-Dr. Richard J. Gatling, Hartford, CT, June 15th, 1877
The Gatling is still used today, mostly on fighter planes and is able to now shoot 6,000 rounds per minute, making it one of the most important pieces of military technology throughout our history.
civilwarhome.com 6 Apr. 2005. Civil War Potpourri. 15 Jun. 2009. http://www.civilwarhome.com/gatlinggun.htm.
The Gatling is indeed an important piece of technology. Just think about how many video games today have incorporated the Gatling gun. Games from Grand Theft Auto to many different shooting games. It just has a certain appeal to it, whether it is the fast firing rate or the ability to shoot multiple bullets at one time. It has to be one of the more important gun advancements of the century.
ReplyDeleteThe machine guns are the first weapon that most people pick, because of the firing rate and all that intense moment from firing a weapon. I think machine guns are more and more high tech. the reason I say that, is because more and more weapons are developed to be controlled by mechanical equipment. So I think the technology advancement makes it easy on soldiers at war to control the weapon. So this advancement of the machinegun technology has at least some advantages that can save some lives.
ReplyDeleteBeing a former Marine and seeing the Gatling gun firing from a Marine jet only about 100 feet away from me, I can say this is a very impressive an horrifying sight. I couldn't imagine being on the receiving end of this gun. From what I remember, it can cover an entire football field in about 30 seconds. The original doesn't even compare to our present version. Still this invention back in the late 1800's was a huge break through. This is the great-grandfather of our modern and smaller machine guns.
ReplyDeleteIt is absolutely fascinating that the inventor of the Gatling gun believed that the invention of a gun that killed one hundred men in rapid fire would benefit society by decreasing exposure to battle and disease. Richard Gatling proposed that his advanced gun would save lives by killing; what a thought provoking concept. This most certainly was a predecessor to modern day gun laws and the conflict between the right to bear arms advocates and whose who seek to limit access to automatic weapons.
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