Fire Away: The History of the Gatling Gun
January 30, 2020
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Fire Away: The History of the Gatling Gun
Jim, one of our dedicated volunteers, started his new year by spiffing up the Gatling Gun on display at the Museum of World Treasures.
The Gatling gun is one of the best-known early rapid-fire hand cranked weapons that was first used in 1864. It was named for its inventor Richard Jordan Gatling, a physician. Although Gatling graduated from the Ohio Medical College to be a doctor, he never once practiced medicine. Instead, he was much more interested in a career as an inventor.
Gatling had a passion for making things easier. His fascination for invention led to several patented products for improving bicycles, toilets, steam-cleaning of raw wool, pneumatic power, along with any other fields. He created a screw propeller, a wheat drill (a device used for planting), and various early-versions of tractors including a steam tractor and motor-driven plow.
During the Civil War, he noticed that a majority of the soldiers fighting were lost to disease rather than gunshots. He wrote:
“It occurred to me that 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, than it would, to a large extent supersede the necessity of large armies, and consequently, exposure to battle and disease would be greatly diminished”
(Paul Wahl and Don Toppel, The Gatling Gun Arco Publishing, 1971).
In this same publication, Gatling mentions creating the machine in order to show how futile war is —ironic, isn’t it?
Regardless of the reasons for its invention, the Gatling Gun was considered to be the first successful machine gun of its time (although it would not be considered a machine gun by today’s standards). Its multiple barrels keep the machine from overheating, and its “gravity-feed” reloading system allowed unskilled users to actually shoot a relatively high rate of fire at 250 rounds per minute.
Oddly enough, Gatling guns are perhaps most famous for not being used in the Battle of Little Bighorn, which was also known as “Custer’s Last Stand.”
That’s right, folks — General George Armstrong Custer was supposed to take three Gatling guns with him to fight at this 1876 battle. Instead, he chose to arm himself with a single-fire gun and was killed in battle along with 200 of his men. Today, the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument stands near Crow Agency, Montana, and honors those who fought on both sides during the Great Sioux War of 1876.
In 1911, after 45 years of service, all models of Gatling Guns were declared obsolete by the U.S. military.
An actual Gatling Gun is on display at the Museum of World Treasures — wheels, barrels, and all! And thanks to one of our stellar volunteers, it’s freshly cleaned, shimmered, and shined.
Thank you, Jim, for all that you do!
Interested in viewing the Gatling Gun in person? The Museum of World Treasures is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Mondays through Saturdays (and 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Sundays).
Want to volunteer to help preserve artifacts packed with stories of the past? Find out how you can help!