Richard Gatling. Portrait of Dr Richard Jordan Gatling (1818-1903), American inventor, metallurg- ist and machine gun pioneer. After graduating in medicine from Ohio Medical College, Gatling turned to invention. In response to the American Civil War of 1861-65, he developed a multi- barrelled gun in 1862. This was operated by a manually-turned handle and could fire up to 350 bullets a minute. Although not an original idea, Gatling's design was better than those of other inventors and it was adopted by several armies from 1866. Gatling's other inventions include a screw propeller for ships and a steel & aluminium alloy; he also experimented with cast-steel cannon.