The Gatling Gun Essay, Research Paper

The Gatling gun is an invention of great importance to the science of warfare. Richard Jordan Gatling turned his attention to firearms and invented the Gatling gun during the Civil War. Even Gatling probably never knew how significant his invention would become. Just why, though, is the Gatling gun such an important invention?

The idea of a multi-firing rifle for use in war goes back almost as far as the use of gunpowder (Britton 1). The problems with creating this type of gun included insufficient gunpowder and ignition systems, and the lack of technology for a high firing rate. These problems were eventually overcome by the increase in weapons technology during the 19th century. New loading systems such as the breech load design, and the development of new and improved ammunition were made. Innovations to ammunition led to bullets much like those of today. The new ammunition utilized a one-piece design to eliminate the need to handle powder.

The first “machine guns” used steam to operate and were extremely large and unreliable (Britton 2). The first mechanically operated machine gun was the Ager “Coffee Mill” gun. The inventor, Wilson Ager, designed the gun to operate with a crank that resembled that of a coffee grinder. Abraham Lincoln approved the purchase of twelve “Coffee Mill” guns. They were then known as “Union Repeating Guns.” (Britton 3).

Throughout the Civil War, both sides experimented with several “machine guns.” The breakthrough in machine gun technology was made when Dr. Richard J. Gatling created the famous Gatling gun. Gatling was born in Hertford County, North Carolina, as the son of a plantation owner. Gatling’s talent for design came from helping his father invent machines for working with cotton (Encarta 1). In 1839, Gatling invented a screw propeller for steamboats. After this point in his life, Gatling drifted from being a county clerk, a teacher, and a merchant, until he attended Ohio Medical College. After receiving his PhD., however, Gatling never entered practice. Instead he continued inventing agricultural machinery.

Gatling changed his focus at the start of the Civil War. He decided to look into the invention of firearms (U.S. Army TACOM-RI Website 1). In 1862, Gatling invented the machine gun that bears his name. The Gatling gun is a hand-crank, rapid-fire weapon, utilizing six revolving barrels. The barrels revolve inside a supporting frame while rounds are inserted, fired, and their casings removed, all by mechanical action. The .58 caliber rounds feed into the breech of each barrel by use of a vertical magazine on top of the gun. Gatling’s use of copper-cased rim-fire ammunition simplified the operation and loading process. Each barrel has a bolt that fires the round after being mechanically activated by a cam. A hand crank mounted on the side of the gun powers the entire firing process (McSherry 2). With this design, the Gatling gun could withstand a rate of fire far higher than previously accomplished. Lt. Colonel Chinn wrote: “Conceived in 1861 and patented in 1862, it was designed to defend buildings, causeways and bridges” (Britton 4). The guns high power and effectiveness made it an ideal weapon for defending strategic places.

Initial interest in the gun by the U.S. Government was, however, not very promising. The first to purchase the guns was Union General Benjamin F. Butler. In 1863 he bought twelve of the guns at a thousand dollars apiece. In 1864, Butler used his new guns on the Petersburg front during the Civil War. The guns were “apparently considered successful” (Faust 1). This use of the Gatling gun, however, was the only service the guns saw during the Civil War. Though the Gatling gun saw only limited use in the Civil War, the conflict tested this weapon, perhaps the first successful machine gun used in warfare (Faust 1). In 1864, Gatling wrote to President Abraham Lincoln:

The Gatling gun is an invention of no ordinary character. It is regarded by all who have seen it operate, as the most effective implement of warfare invented during the war, and it is just the thing needed to aid in crushing the present rebellion (Britton 1).

Gatling’s original machine gun would certainly not be the last. With a total of nineteen Gatling gun models, each new gun was an improvement over the last. His second model, the 1865, was the first to be adopted by the military. This model never saw action, though. The next conflict in which the Gatling gun was used was the Spanish-American War. In 1898, the U.S. Army purchased eighteen model 1895 Gatling guns. They were used in the Gatling Gun Detachment of General Shafter’s Fifth Corps in Cuba. Lieutenant John Henry Parker of the Thirteenth Infantry commanded this detachment. The most famous use of the Gatling gun occurred at San Juan Hill. As soldiers moved their way up the hill, “a peculiar drumming noise was heard.” Some men thought it was Spanish machine guns. Theodore Roosevelt, however, heard the guns and yelled to his men, “It’s the Gatlings, men, our Gatlings!” (McSherry 2). Parker later recorded his account of the event:

The guns were pushed right up in the hottest place there was in the battlefield and put into action at the most critical point of the battle [the guns] so successfully subdued the Spanish fire that from that time to the capture of the practically impregnable position was only eight-and-one-half minutes. The expenditure of ammunition during this time, in which a continuous fire was kept up from three guns, was 6,000 rounds per gun (Cohen 224)

The success of the Gatling gun in the battle at San Juan Hill was a major accomplishment in weapons technology. For the first time, the U.S. Army used close-support machine guns against an enemy position.

Three more models of the Gatling gun followed model 1895, until the death of Gatling in February 1903, at the age of eighty-four. After forty-five years in service, the U.S. Army declared their Gatling gun obsolete in 1911. It was time to modify the Gatling gun into a more reliable and accurate machine gun. In 1946, U.S. Army Ordnance Research and Development Service engineers brought back the old Gatling principle and adapted it to create the 6,000 shot per minute, M61 series Vulcan 20mm Gatling gun. This is the gun that now arms many U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy supersonic fighters, including the F-14, F-15, F-16, F/A-18 and the F-111A (U.S. Army TACOM-RI Website 5).

The Gatling principle allows a high rate of fire while reducing heat and barrel erosion. The main changes in design are the use of hydraulics, air power, electrical control, and revolutionary ammunition feed system. The M61 is used all around the world in jets, helicopters, ground assault craft, and ship defense systems such as the Phalanx. The Phalanx is a self-contained, rapid-fire, ship defense system incorporating an M61 Gatling gun along with radar and computerized control systems (U.S. Army TACOM-RI Website 6).

The Gatling gun is an extremely important invention in weapons technology that has stood the test of time. It was used with success in the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War. The success of the Gatling gun in history still survives today with the next generation M61 Gatling gun. The same principle of an invention created in 1862 is still being trusted in the fuselage of the newest and most sophisticated fighter jets in the world. A design principle that lasts over 138 years deserves to be recognized as an invention of world-changing importance.