The Real Reason The Gatling Gun Was Invented Might Surprise You

According to History, Richard Gatling received his first patent for a new kind of seed planter in 1844. Over the subsequent years, Gatling continued to improve upon his seed planter, as well as invent a whole host of other types of farming equipment. In 1850, after suffering from a bout of smallpox (via Britannica), Gatling developed a passing interest in medicine. With the approach of the 1860s and the early battles of the Civil War breaking out, Gatling became inspired after witnessing the horrors of battle (via Chicago Tribune). Noticing that far more soldiers died from disease than from bullets, Gatling reached back into his past for an idea that he hoped, in the end, would spare the need for massive armies.

Adapting his original idea of the automatic seed planter, Gatling created a device that had 6 to 10 rifle barrels arranged in a circular pattern. Connected to a hand crank, the barrels would begin to rotate once the crank was turned. On top of Gatling's new weapon was a hopper, a funnel type device (via Merriam-Webster) that fed bullets into each of the rifle barrels as they rotated by. Through the use of gravity, the bullets locked into place, were "automatically" fired and the empty cartridge being ejected all within the time of the weapon being cranked (via Encyclopedia).

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunCFj3JuamlfqbWmedGemKVlopqutLvNZquhnV2crrW4yKeeZp%2Blo3q4rdJmoKeulaPBprCMpqCgoKRiwLa%2Bz6ugrJ1drry2ew%3D%3D