National Archieve
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/designs_for_democracy/symbols_and_substance/articles/gatling_gun_patent_drawing.html
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
My NHD essay Thus Far
Brian Meagher Jr.
NHD 2009-10
During the Civil War, the Union needed a rapid fire machine gun for battle, and the Gatling Gun was their answer. The Gatling gun was created by Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling in 1861. He made it on two intentions; making war seem unthinkable, and therefore ending war forever, and making it possible for one man to do as much damage with one weapon as a whole regiment could do fully armed.Its use in the Civil War and Spanish-American War proved that it made it deadlier.
Dr. Gatling gun wrote this letter explaining one of the reasons he invented this gun " 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 "(Faust). Dr. Gatling is also said to have invented this weapon to make the thought of war so terrifying that it would be an unthinkable thing (Bellis).
The Gatling gun was the first successful firearm created. It was used in various wars including but not limited to the Civil War and Spanish-American War. The original variation of this weighed around 90lbs., and took half a dozen men to handle(Aeragon). It is a possibility that the Confederacy could have won the Civil War if had not been for Dr. Gatling's invention. The Gatling gun was manufactured in Hartford, Connecticut, but later it was discovered that the gun had problems such as jamming and was then sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for modification in 1865.
The Gatling gun only saw limited usage in the American Civil War. The United States Government did not show interested or buy any of Dr. Gatling’s guns. It wasn’t until 1862 that Major Gen. Benjamin F. Butler of the United States Army field tested Dr. Gatling’s creation. He was impressed with what the weapon was capable of. Major Gen. Butler then purchased twelve guns for 1,000 dollars a piece. Butler and his army used these weapons in 1864 in a battle known as Siege of Petersburg (Faust). This was a very important battle, because how close Petersburg was to the confederacy’s capitol Richmond , Virginia. The weapons were considered important and helped the Union capture Petersburg. Three years later, while in Philadelphia during its modifications, it was changed to a cartridge and to a six-inch barrel. After four years of Gatling’s attempts, he had finally made a model successful enough to be used without major issues. As a result, the U.S. Army bought one-hundred models. They bought two models the Linch cal. And the .50 cal, they converted five of them into .45 cal.
The Gatling gun was frequently used in the Spanish-American War. However, it did not see much battle field experience until the Battle of San Juan Hill. On the morning of July 1st, 1898, Spanish Commander Arsenio Linares ordered 750 soldiers to hold defense on San Juan Hill in case of American attack. The Americans did in fact attack San Juan Hill that day. They came well prepared with maximum man power of 15,000 soldiers lead by General Jacob F. Kent, Major-General Henry W. Lawton, and General Samuel S. Sumner. It is still unknown why Aresnio Linares didn’t order his 10,000 reserves located in nearby Santiago, Cuba to also protect the hill (US Military History Companion: Battle of San Juan Hill). Thanks to Lieutenant J.H. Parker among others, who managed to get a few Gatling guns to Cuba,the Americans came out victorious (McSherry). Lieutenant Parker is quoted saying “All that had ever been claimed by the most enthusiastic weapons were exemplified, and the result of the campaign was to place the machine gun beyond dispute as a weapon to be reckoned with in some form in all future wars”(Ellis). Corneal Theodore Roosevelt whom later went on to become the 26th President of The United States of America survived in the Spanish-American War. He was the leader of the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry , one of only three volunteer cavalries that saw action. The 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry was also known as the Rough Riders. The Rough Riders were composed of so to speak western cowboys and Ivy League students, they seen action in the Battle of San Juan. Corneal Theodore Roosevelt is quoted saying, “It’s the Gatlings, men, our Gatlings! It was the only sound I ever heard my men cheer in war”(Ellis). From the time between the victory of Battle of San Juan Hill and the end of the war the United States army had purchased around one-hundred Gatling guns. Although the Americans lost three times as many soldiers in this battle as the Spanish, the Americans had wiped out one-third of the Spanish troops stationed in Cuba ( US Military History Companion: Battle of San Juan Hill).The Battle of San Juan Hill is arguably the most important victory to the Americans in the Spanish-American War.
The Gatling gun was made for two reasons. The first reason was to make war seem unbearable, and therefore making war a thing of past generations. The second reason was to give as much power to one man to have as much effect on war as a hundred men. The Gatling Gun did make it possible for one man to poses such power, however this innovation made war deadlier. This makes you think can inventing new weapons be more of a positive thing or a negative thing.
NHD 2009-10
During the Civil War, the Union needed a rapid fire machine gun for battle, and the Gatling Gun was their answer. The Gatling gun was created by Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling in 1861. He made it on two intentions; making war seem unthinkable, and therefore ending war forever, and making it possible for one man to do as much damage with one weapon as a whole regiment could do fully armed.Its use in the Civil War and Spanish-American War proved that it made it deadlier.
Dr. Gatling gun wrote this letter explaining one of the reasons he invented this gun " 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 "(Faust). Dr. Gatling is also said to have invented this weapon to make the thought of war so terrifying that it would be an unthinkable thing (Bellis).
The Gatling gun was the first successful firearm created. It was used in various wars including but not limited to the Civil War and Spanish-American War. The original variation of this weighed around 90lbs., and took half a dozen men to handle(Aeragon). It is a possibility that the Confederacy could have won the Civil War if had not been for Dr. Gatling's invention. The Gatling gun was manufactured in Hartford, Connecticut, but later it was discovered that the gun had problems such as jamming and was then sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for modification in 1865.
The Gatling gun only saw limited usage in the American Civil War. The United States Government did not show interested or buy any of Dr. Gatling’s guns. It wasn’t until 1862 that Major Gen. Benjamin F. Butler of the United States Army field tested Dr. Gatling’s creation. He was impressed with what the weapon was capable of. Major Gen. Butler then purchased twelve guns for 1,000 dollars a piece. Butler and his army used these weapons in 1864 in a battle known as Siege of Petersburg (Faust). This was a very important battle, because how close Petersburg was to the confederacy’s capitol Richmond , Virginia. The weapons were considered important and helped the Union capture Petersburg. Three years later, while in Philadelphia during its modifications, it was changed to a cartridge and to a six-inch barrel. After four years of Gatling’s attempts, he had finally made a model successful enough to be used without major issues. As a result, the U.S. Army bought one-hundred models. They bought two models the Linch cal. And the .50 cal, they converted five of them into .45 cal.
The Gatling gun was frequently used in the Spanish-American War. However, it did not see much battle field experience until the Battle of San Juan Hill. On the morning of July 1st, 1898, Spanish Commander Arsenio Linares ordered 750 soldiers to hold defense on San Juan Hill in case of American attack. The Americans did in fact attack San Juan Hill that day. They came well prepared with maximum man power of 15,000 soldiers lead by General Jacob F. Kent, Major-General Henry W. Lawton, and General Samuel S. Sumner. It is still unknown why Aresnio Linares didn’t order his 10,000 reserves located in nearby Santiago, Cuba to also protect the hill (US Military History Companion: Battle of San Juan Hill). Thanks to Lieutenant J.H. Parker among others, who managed to get a few Gatling guns to Cuba,the Americans came out victorious (McSherry). Lieutenant Parker is quoted saying “All that had ever been claimed by the most enthusiastic weapons were exemplified, and the result of the campaign was to place the machine gun beyond dispute as a weapon to be reckoned with in some form in all future wars”(Ellis). Corneal Theodore Roosevelt whom later went on to become the 26th President of The United States of America survived in the Spanish-American War. He was the leader of the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry , one of only three volunteer cavalries that saw action. The 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry was also known as the Rough Riders. The Rough Riders were composed of so to speak western cowboys and Ivy League students, they seen action in the Battle of San Juan. Corneal Theodore Roosevelt is quoted saying, “It’s the Gatlings, men, our Gatlings! It was the only sound I ever heard my men cheer in war”(Ellis). From the time between the victory of Battle of San Juan Hill and the end of the war the United States army had purchased around one-hundred Gatling guns. Although the Americans lost three times as many soldiers in this battle as the Spanish, the Americans had wiped out one-third of the Spanish troops stationed in Cuba ( US Military History Companion: Battle of San Juan Hill).The Battle of San Juan Hill is arguably the most important victory to the Americans in the Spanish-American War.
The Gatling gun was made for two reasons. The first reason was to make war seem unbearable, and therefore making war a thing of past generations. The second reason was to give as much power to one man to have as much effect on war as a hundred men. The Gatling Gun did make it possible for one man to poses such power, however this innovation made war deadlier. This makes you think can inventing new weapons be more of a positive thing or a negative thing.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
NHD Essay:Introduction
During the Civil War the Union needed a weapon that could rapidly fire , the Gatling gun was their answer. The Gatling Gun was created by Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling in 1861. It is said to be created to bring an end to war. However it did the opposite , it made war even more deadlier. In this essay I will be disscussing the following things; effects on the American Civil War, change this innovation made in history , and how it revolutionized war.
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