The Indiana State sentinel., 1877-06-20
THE GATLING GUN
Where They Are Made-Their History,
Effectiveness, Etc.
An Indiana Invention.

ting to the great gun factories" of Hartford,
Connecticut, among which Colts patent fire
arms company is justly conspicuous. "The
buildings of the factories proper at Hartford,
Connecticut says the Pathfinder "cover an
area of 500 feet square, or 25O, 900 square feet
of ground, employ about 500 men, and in
them are produced revolving pistols and ri
files breech-loading muskets, Gatling
gums, Baxter steam engines, Gally's Univer-
sal printing presses sewing machines, can
'celler punches, ETC., etc. All these are spe-
'cialties of this concern, but the great spe-
'cialty, covering all of these, is that this es-
'tablishment produces nothing but first-cass
work.
"The annual sales vary greatly. In some
years they have exceeded 81, 100000. Dur
ing the American civil war this company
furnished the United States government
with 100000 army and navy pistols and
100000 Springfield muskets Since then
they have supplied Russia with 10000
breech loading muskets and France with
6,000 They also furnished Russia with be-
tween 200 and 800 Gatling guns, and Egypt
with about as many, besides large supplies
of various arms to nearly every important
nation in the world"
THE GATLING BATTERY GUN
is made only by the Colts patent fire arms
manufacturing company. 1t was invented
by r. ]. Gatling, of Indiana, in 1861, and the
first Gatling gun was made in Indianapolis
in 1862. 1t was formally brought to the no.
tice of the French government in 1863, and
WAS tho frs military o0hiua
Trials of this gun have been made by United
States military authorities, by Mexico, near
| ly every nation OF Europe, by Egypt, China,
Japan and several South American states
1t was first introduced to European govern
ments in 1867, and has been formally adopt
ed as an auxiliary service arm in many of
the above countries. The new model gun
| and cartridges, as now improved, work per-
fectly, and should and doubtless will receive
| the early critical examination and highest
| consideration of European and other nations.
The Gatling gun consists of number of
very simple breech loading rifled barrels,
| grouped around and revolving about a shaft.
| to which they are parallel. These barrels
are loaded and fired while revolving, the
| empty cartridge shells being elected in con-
| tinuous succession. Each barrel is fired only
| once in a revolutions; but as many shots are
delivered during that time as there are bar
| rels so that the 10 barrel Gatling gun fires
| 10 times in one revolution of the group of
barrels. The working of the gun is simple
viz: One man places one end or feed case
full of cartridges into a hopper at the top of
the gun, while another turns a crank which
revolves the gun. As fast as exhausted feed
cases are substituted without interrupting
the revolutions or the succession of dis
charges The usual number of barrels com
posing the gun is 10. The weight of the Cat
ling 10 barrel guns varies from l35 to $50
e fhe.o
pounds.
AMONG THE GATLING's POINTS
of superiority over the Montigny (French)
gun are the following: Greater destructive
effect, owing to rapidity; greater command
of range, being adapted to large and small
calibers; capacity of being worked by fewer
men; greater facility of repair, disordered
locks being easily replaced in few minutes;
greater demoralizing effect produced by its
continuity of fire; better means of carrying
ammunition uninjured.
English military reports have declared in
substance that besides being employed on
ships of war, a Gatling gun would be ex-
ceedingly useful for defense of coast bat
teries against attacks of boats or to keep
down the fire of ships upon forts, or
when attempting to force passage by inces-
SAINT fire into their port holes, and would
utterly stop all attempts at landing. The
smaller Gatling guns would be an effectual
defense of intrenched positions and villages.
or for covering roads, defles, bridges, and
other narrow places where an enemy might
attempt to pass
A body of troops advancing to attack
intrenched position over any distance within
1 200 yards would suffer far more from Cat
| ling guns, delivering incessant and wide
| spread fire of the deadliest mitraille, than
| from field guns. English experiments in
| 1871 demonstrated that, in proportion to the
weight of ammunition to be carried, the de-
| structive effect of the small Gatling gun
against troops in an open field, at ranges
within l, 400 yards, is nearly three times that
of nine-pounder rifed NJ. L. field gun, and
also that If decreased in weight (as it has
been, without lessening its efficiency, the
gun, carriage and ammunition could be
drawn by single English cart horse. Either
| kind of Gatling gun has been recommended
as invaluable at a siege for purposes of de-
fense on both sides; for the besiegers in re-
pelling sorties, protecting advanced works
or keeping down the fire of the fort, and to
| the garrison for sweeping the bitches, de-
| Tending a breach or for close fighting of any
| kind.
| IN 1874 BOARD OF UNITED STATES ARMY EN-
GINEERs
conceded the following claims for the Cat
| ling gun: It's peculiar power for the defense
| of intrenched positions and villages, roads,
| defiles bridges; for covering the embarka-
| ton or debarkation of troops, or crossing
streams; for silencing batteries; for increas
| ing the infantry fire at the critical moment
CT battle; for supporting field batteries and
protecting them against cavalry or infantry
charges; for covering the retreat of repulsed
| column; for the accuracy, continuity and in
| tensity of its fire, and for its economy of men
for serving and animals for transporting it.
TRIALS.
| After a most careful and exhaustiveinves-
| tigation and trial the Calling gun was
adopted in March, 1874, as an auxiliary arm
| for all branches Of the United States service,
as it had previously been adopted, in 1866, as
j a field arm II has also been adopted as an