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THBCivil War, Sixth Plate Tintype of Soldier Identified as Sgt. Hiram Smith, 18th New York Light Artillery, plus Copy Photograph of the Regus-Billinghurs
About Seller
6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
With offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Denver, Cowan’s holds over 40 auctions each year, with annual sales exceeding $16M. We reach buyers around the globe, and take pride in our reputation for integrity, customer service and great results. A full-service house, Cowan’s Auctions specializes in Am...Read more
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About Auction
LiveJul 21, 2014 - Jul 22, 2014
Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
View Full Catalog (514)
- Lot Description
Lot of 2, including sixth plate tintype with modern identification, plus modern copy photograph.
A rare photograph of a rare gun. Photograph shows the men from the 18th Independent Light Artillery from Rochester, NY standing around and behind the Billinghurst-Requa Machine Gun/Battery Gun, taken on what is now Main St., Rochester. The gun has multiple tubes in a flat arrangement on a caisson.
The design of the rapid-fire gun was the idea of Josephus Requa (1833-1910), who had been an apprentice of William Billinghurst (1807-1880), gunsmith. Requa went on to become a dentist, so when the gun was manufactured, it was Billinghurst's company who made them. Requa began working early in the war to design a gun, and by 11 July 1861 had a scale model. Billinghurst and Requa built a prototype, which used a 25-round clip of .58 caliber bullets, fired by a single percussion cap. It could be reloaded and fired seven times per minute (= 175 rounds per min.). The spread of the fire could also be adjusted for range.
Requa met with General James Ripley in April 1862 to pitch his weapon. Ripley dismissed Requa because he thought it would use so much ammunition that it would become a logistical problem - getting enough ammo to the guns. So Requa went directly to Lincoln, who ordered Ripley to reconsider. Ripley refused, Requa went back to Lincoln, who ordered a demonstration of the gun. It worked as advertised. Billinghurst and Requa ordered a public demonstration to get backers, as the guns were expensive to produce (the prototype cost them $500). They got the backers and contracts to produce 50 of them.
The gun was never officially accepted into service, but was used at Fort Sumter, Petersburg and Cold Harbor. Five guns were purchased by the government after the war, but advancing technology soon rendered them obsolete. Gatling was working on his gun at the same time, and received a patent for it on 4 Nov. 1862, Requa's gun being patented on 16 Sept. 1862. The Gatling gun used a circular multi-barrel arrangement that became the basis of modern machine guns.
The lot also includes a sixth-plate tintype of Sgt. Hiram Smith of the 18th Light Artillery. He mustered in on Aug. 25, 1862, and appears the fifth man from the left in the large image of the Battery and gun. (Thus the image was taken after this.) The tintype is in a Union case with crossed cannons, Liberty cap and other martial imagery, appropriate for someone in an artillery unit! (Krainik 112) Photo with light cheek tinting and gilt shoulder boards. Interestingly, Smith holds a sword, no firearms.
Tintype with a few bends. Case is fine.Condition
Mount broken lower right corner, and both upper corners chipped. One tear through upper part of the image. - Shipping Info
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