1818

1903

Richard Gatling
The Gatling Gun (1862)

1. American: born in Hertford County, North Carolina

2. Best known for his invention of the Gatling gun; the first successful machine gun
3. Invented/patented many inventions including a screw propeller and a steam plow
4.Born:
Led to the creation of the M61 Vulcan; a six-barreled, air cooled, rotary cannon
Died:
5. After noticing many soldiers dying in the war from disease, rather than gunshots,
Home:
he felt compelled to build the machine gun

"It occurred to me that 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 large extent supersede the
necessity of large armies, and consequently, exposure to battle and
disease [would] be greatly diminished."

Did you know?

Though the gun was developed
during the Civil War it saw very little action.