The Savage Story of the Gatling Gun
National Museum of the U.S. Navy
By Matthew Moss
AUG 22, 2016
117
In April 1861, Richard Jordan Gatling watched hundreds of Union soldiers march through Indianapolis, ready to ride the rails to the front. In the opposite direction came a never-ending stream of badly wounded men, to say nothing of those who lost their lives. Gatling set about inventing a 'labor-saving device for warfare' that he hoped would minimize the number of men needed to fight a war, and thus minimize the number of men exposed to its horrors.
Working throughout the summer of 1861, Gatling developed the invention that would carry his name though history: the Gatling gun. The Gatling is the most famous of late 19th century's manual machine guns. In an age of slow-loading rifles, the Gatling offered unprecedented firepower. Even today, a century and a half after its design, the gun retains its iconic status. So why does the world still know the name of gun that's been obsolete for a hundred years?
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a22451/history-gatling-gun/
