US Army initially shunned inventor Richard Jordan Gatling’s rapid-fire gun
THE top brass of the Union Army watched an amazing demonstration of a rapid fire gun in 1862. Invented by Richard Gatling, the gun would change the nature of warfare
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THE top brass of the US Army were sceptical of the strange-looking device set up before them on a hill outside Indianapolis in 1862. Richard Jordan Gatling, a distinguished grey-bearded man, claimed the contraption was capable of rapidly shooting multiple rounds of bullets.
Others had tried to create rapid-fire guns and failed, so the military men were expecting another dud. But as Gatling cranked the handle, the air was rent with quick bursts of gunfire. The army officers were aghast. Gatling’s gun fired a staggering 50 rounds in just 12 seconds. Although technically not a machine gun as it still needed to be hand cranked, it was the first gun that could fire several rounds in rapid succession.
The inventor, born 200 years ago today, believed the gun could take the place of several men, which would mean fewer people would need to be exposed to battle and, ultimately, it would save lives. The reality, however, was that his gun made killing far more efficient and kicked off the era of mechanised warfare.
While the army may have been impressed by Gatling’s demonstration they didn’t immediately equip their units with the machines. In the midst of a war with the rebel Confederate Army, the US Army, known as the Union Army, was wary about the new weapon, which had yet to be fully range tested and tried out in battle.
In November 1862 Gatling patented his gun, known as the Gatling gun. The first guns were manufactured for sale the next year and some generals privately purchased their own. But the army would not officially adopt them until 1866. However, the gun would change the nature of warfare forever.
Gatling was born in Maney’s Neck in North Carolina on September 12, 1818, the son of a rich planter who liked to tinker with farm machinery, making improvements to existing equipment. Gatling enjoyed helping his father and also became a tinkerer. While working on inventions in his spare time, Gatling did other
jobs to pay the bills, including working as a teacher, a clerk and opening his own store.
His first invention was an innovative type of screw propeller for steamships, which he tried to patent in 1839 only to discover he had been beaten by a few months by Swedish-born naval inventor John Ericsson. Instead, he turned to improving the design of agricultural machines, from which he began to earn a good living.
Gatling was always looking for something he could improve. When he was stricken by smallpox during an epidemic in the 1840s he became interested in medicine, wondering if he could devise ways to prevent the illness. In 1850 he earned an MD but never set up a medical practice. However, in 1854 he married the daughter of a doctor, Jemima Sanders, who was 19 years younger than him.
When the American Civil War began in 1861 he had the idea of creating his gun. Despite his successful demonstration in 1862, the army passed on making it part of their arsenal. But one general, Benjamin Butler, paid $12,000 for 12 guns out of his own pocket. He used them at the Siege of Petersburg, in Virginia, in 1864, but the guns didn’t play a significant role.
By then other people had discovered the power of Gatling’s guns. During the 1863 anticonscription riots in New York the editor of the Daily Times (later the New York Times) set up Gatling guns to prevent the crowd from breaking into his newspaper offices.
But Gatling found it hard to sell his guns. He offered them to Napoleon III in France but broke off negotiations when the emperor only ordered a single gun. He then went into partnership with gun manufacturer Colt to produce the weapons and help him sell them.
In the wake of the Civil War the US government was cutting back on military expenditure, making the gun a hard sell. But the army soon realised the value of a single gun replacing a troop of riflemen and ordered 100 guns in 1866. The first guns were mostly used on the frontier against Native Americans. It is said, however, that General George Custer left his guns behind before his troops were slaughtered at the battle of Little Big Horn in 1876.
Meanwhile, demand grew overseas. Both sides bought the guns to use during the Russo-Turkish war in 1877-1878. And the British also used them against the Zulus in 1879.
However, Gatling’s domination of the market for rapid-fire guns ended with the 1889 invention of the fully automatic machine by Hiram Maxim.
By then Gatling had already made a fortune on his gun as well as a range of other inventions he patented. He died in 1903.
Originally published as US Army initially shunned inventor Richard Jordan Gatling’s rapid-fire gun
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