Federals with Gatling gun?

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Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Dec 3, 2011
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Laurinburg NC
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l heard that Butler bought a few. I have no recollection if he ever used them.

With Custer at LBH, and he left them behind, I don't see how they would have made much difference.
 
l heard that Butler bought a few. I have no recollection if he ever used them.

With Custer at LBH, and he left them behind, I don't see how they would have made much difference.


Might have scared the Indians off, seems that you could never quite tell what an Indian would do in a fight, good warriors, not the best soldiers.
 
Technically this is NOT Ft. Abraham Lincoln, which was the cavalry post with barracks, stables, and officers' quarters located on the floodplain across from the "hog ranch" that became Bismark, D.T. This is on the adjoining hill overlooking the plain and was a totally separate installation known as Ft. McKeen and was an infantry post. Note the odd-looking blockhouse in the background of the photo which also served as a lookout in the early days of the forts there. When I visited back in the 1970's, one or more of the blockhouses had been reconstructed as part of the N.D. State Park that maintains the site.
 
I am trying to think if I have ever seen a Civil War period image of soldiers with a gatling gun. It would be late war for sure if one exists.

So far the only one I have been able to find is the attached picture. :bounce:
 

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colt gatling1.jpg
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This gun appears to be a Hotchkiss revolving cannon and not the standard Gatling gun which was normally chambered for the .45-70 cartridge. The standard Gatling gun was made by Colt in Hartford, Connecticut. The Hotchkiss was made in France.
 
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On a related note, how much were gatling guns used during the Civil War. I vaguely remember hearing that they were developed during the war but did not see much use. Some one told me recently that they were used by the Union, but they stopped using it because it was "unfair"?
 
On a related note, how much were gatling guns used during the Civil War. I vaguely remember hearing that they were developed during the war but did not see much use. Some one told me recently that they were used by the Union, but they stopped using it because it was "unfair"?

It's my understanding General Ben Butler privately purchased a few gatlings that may have been used on the Red River Campaign late in the War, but other than that the only use of this weapon that has some documentation was at Petersburg during the closing days (I think). What's interesting is that Dr. Gatling had been branded a copperhead, and that allegation alone caused enough controversy within the US military establishment to prohibit any serious consideration of his invention. Hopefully the CWT experts can shed more details on this. One thing I can say, I've never heard anything about the Gatling gun being unfair. By 1865, "anything goes" was acceptable to end the war.

There may be other threads on this topic, but one post war event that has amused me, is that Gatling sued Hotchkiss over the outward resemblance between his Gatling gun & Hotchkiss' revolving cannon.

I believe Hotchkiss won the lawsuit.
 
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Custer should have taken them with him on the Rosebud. :smile:

The available Gatlings were assigned to Terry's column, so they did take part in the campaign. Custer felt, probably correctly, that the wheeled guns might hamper the movements of his cavalry regiment. Terry's was a mixed cavalry/infantry force and had less distance to cover, so the mobility of the Gatlings was not an issue. Had all gone smoothly, both columns and all available troops and weapons would have converged on the Indians simultaneously from north and south, but it didn't quite work out that way......
 
I don't think "fairness" was much of a brake on things by 1864.

It seems to me that most of the reasons I've read for the lack of widespread adoption of the Gatling and other repeating guns had more to do with logistics than anything else-- a presumption (rightly or wrongly) that they would be a supply headache due to ammo use.
 
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