Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling (September 12, 1818 – February 26, 1903) was an American inventor best known for his invention of the Gatling gun, the first successful rapid-repeating fire arm.
The son of farmer and inventor Jordan Gatling, Gatling was born in Hertford County, North Carolina and by the age of 21 had invented the screw propeller for steamboats, only to discover it had recently and independently been patented by John Ericsson. He worked as a court clerk, teacher, and storekeeper. While running his own store, he invented a "wheat drill", a planting device, and manufactured these for sale. By 1845 he was earning enough from this device to devote himself to selling and marketing it full-time.
He founded the Gatling Gun Company in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1862. The company merged with Colt in 1897. In the interim, he further developed the device, and while experimenting with improvements, he devised electric motor powered Gatling cannons of various sizes. Modern versions of these were put into use on flying gun platforms in the later half of the 1900s, as well as being used by some ground forces. The hand-cranked Gatling gun was declared obsolete by the United States Army in 1911.
In his later years, Gatling patented improvements related to toilets, bicycles, steam-cleaning of raw wool, pneumatic power, and many other fields. World-famous, he was elected as the first president of the American Association of Inventors and Manufacturers in 1891, serving for six years. Although still quite wealthy at the time of his death, he had made and lost several fortunes in bad investments.
Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling died at his home in New York City on February 26, 1903. He is interred at the famous Crown Hill National Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Jordan_Gatling
One of the original 12 Gatling Guns; this one is located at West Point.
Hartford, June 15th, 1877
My Dear Friend.
It may be interesting to you to know how I came to invent the gun which bears my name; I will tell you: In 1861, during the opening events of the war, (residing at that time in Indianapolis, md.,) I witnessed almost daily the departure of troops to the front and the return of the wounded, sick, and dead. The most of the latter lost their lives, not in battle, but by sickness and exposure incident to the service. 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. I thought over the subject and finally this idea took practical form in the invention of the Gatling Gun.
Yours truly,
R.J. Gatling
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My name is Gary Michie, I'm 1st Sergeant of the 1st Michigan Light Artillery Battery E located near Spokane, Wa and I'm a member of the Washington Civil War Association (WCWA).
Sergeant Andy Nelson
Corporal Darren Michie
1st Sergeant Gary Michie
Private Dana Michie
Private Randy Duff
Private Ambrose Michie(aka:Amber Rose)
I just completed building my 10 pound Parrott Rifle (cannon) and now I'm on to building Gatling Guns that were originally designed by Dr. Richard Gatling during the Civil War and as he expressly put it: these guns were so deadly that they'd put an end to all wars.
I'm currently tooling up to build two 1862 hopper fed type 1 Gatling Guns. They're full size replicas of the original and will be perfect for the Civil War era collector or the Civil War Re-enactor. One of these guns will be for sale...the other gun, I plan on using for re-enactment.
Photos of my 10 pound Parrott Rifle and drawings of the Gatling I'll be building available at michigun3.com:
1st Michigan Light Artillery Battery E
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