mrw311 - AnthologyMain MenuIntroductionThe Gatling Gun and Machine GunsRifles and HandgunsIronclad Battleships and Torpedo TechnologyThe Boer WarsStagnation and Fear of DestructionAnxious, Fictional Accounts of the FutureBibliographyMatthew Werkheiserbaf3c422a98f36dbd4c83c180176ff0854fcbc18
12016-11-26T23:59:34-05:00Compound Guns, Many - Barreled Rifles4plain2016-11-27T22:43:45-05:00Chronicling the brief history of “many-barrelled” weapons during several centuries of European conflict, this article from an 1875 copy of The Athenaeum explains the development and testing of the Gatling gun. Starting with the Franco-Prussian War, the Gatling was used with the intent of shocking the Germans into submission, and while it was effective at unnerving them, several drawbacks were found. However, when put into British service, it was discovered that the weapon was devastating so long as the enemy was out in the open. Despite the aforementioned drawbacks, the Gatling gun was not only effective but also a psychological menace towards those at the other end of it since, as the author so aptly points out, “it has no nerves.”