The Gatling gun is one of the best-known early rapid-fire spring loaded, hand cranked weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. Invented by Richard Gatling, it was first used by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s. It was used again in many military conflicts, such as the Anglo-Zulu War, and the Spanish–American War.
Although the first Gatling gun was capable of firing continuously it required a person to crank it, therefore it was not a true automatic weapon. It's operation centered on a cyclic multi-barrel design which facilitated cooling and synchronized the firing-reloading sequence. Each barrel fired a single shot when it reached a certain point in the cycle, after which it ejected the spent cartridge, loaded a new round, and, in the process, allowed the barrel to cool. This configuration allowed higher rates of fire to be achieved without the barrels overheating.
Regrettably an argument ensued between our accountant and adjutant over the excessive rate of fire. The accountant was adamant that the adjutant should be kept well away from the gun and not permitted to fire the weapon and despite its advantageous rate of fire and instantaneous creation of fear in the opposition it was inappropriate given the high cost and risk to the significant number of non combatants in the war zone.
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