When did the U.S. Army finally begin using the Gatling gun?
After the Civil War. In 1866 the Army said, Fine, we’ll use it. By that time, some of the ordinance officers had been replaced with younger counterparts who were more willing to look at innovative weaponry. And the Army did use it throughout the last part of the 19th century, as did armies all over the world. Is it true that George Custer had the opportunity to have Gatling guns on hand at the Little Bighorn but chose not to use them? He did. Some thought this was yet another symbol of Custer’s fatal pride and hubris. But there is some thought that in that circumstance the Gatling gun might not have been useful because of the very uneven and craggy terrain. At that time, Gatling guns were carried by two-wheeled vehicles called limbers and they were difficult to move around. Moving them into place would have been problematic. How was the Gatling gun received outside the U.S.? Very well. Gatling sold his gun in more than 50 countries. For several decades it was the machine gun that every
