Before the machine gun's creation in 1884 and practical uses of it in the early twentieth century, weaponry was more or less still in its primitive stages. Advanced weaponry during this time was without many essential technological enhancements. Rifles and artillery were loaded with a time consuming muzzle loading technique (ramblings). Their barrels were less accurate smoothbores, as rifling barrels were not invented until later (labyrinth). All weapons were also without smokeless gunpowder, an accessory that was used to conceal positions and harness the recoil of the machine gun (labyrinth).The last major war before the machine gun's birth that best illustrates the prior conditions of the weaponry is the last major war up until that time, the American Civil War (1861-1965). Muzzle loading bayonets were still in use and was obviously extremely time consuming in the heat of battle (ramblings). One of these, which was the principal infantry weapon for both the Union and the Confederates, was the 1861 rifle musket. (Civil war online) Although its rifling gave it superior range, a well-trained soldier could manage only three shots per minute under fire (ramblings). As a result, hand to hand combat still played an essential role in the outcome of some of the battles (Britannica).
(Hover mouse to view) The most widely used shoulder arm the the Civil War, the 1861 Rifle Musket . A combination of both rifle and musket, the Rifle Musket still had to be loaded from the muzzle along with gun powder in the designated areas. Vision Multimedia, Inc.
The closest weapon before the automatic machine gun to ever match its rate of fire and capabilities was the gatling gun (the gatling gun). Created around 1862, this multi-barreled gun was operated with the use of a crank, that is each barrel shot only with the complete turn of its handle (the gatling gun). While not the first gun to utilize the idea of a multi-barreled gun, it was certainly the most advanced, using paper cartridges and capable of firing between 350 and 600 rounds per minute (Encarta). But the gun was still inferior to the machine gun in some key aspects. An obvious decrease in the rate of fire due to the manual turning mechanism was one such drawback. Misalignment of the barrels and the chamber was the primary problem that caused jamming and inaccurate shooting (gatling gun civil). Also, another drawback was vertical reloading of ammunition by gravity. This meant that in order to keep the gun firing, a soldier had to rise up and set the ammunition into firing position manually, a very tough task while taking on enemy fire (the gatling gun). Fortunately, the gun was not put to its full potential by military generals for its radical look and various flaws and thus saw little action in the war (gatling gun civil).
10-barelled Gatling gun. www.Encarta.com, Culver Pictures
Tactically, war up until World War I (or the Russo-Japanese and Boer Wars, which is up to the interpretation of the reader) had been unchanged for almost a century. European armies had not clashed in battle for quite some time prior to the outbreak of World War I and still firmly held onto tactics from their last war, the Crimean War (1853-1856). Furthermore, the Crimean war was fought without the "advantages" of the post industrial revolution weaponry and recycled the war tactics from even earlier, as far back as Napoleon's conquests in the early 1800's. Such tactics included shoulder-to-shoulder soldier formations and direct infantry assaults with the aid of artillery as the primary means of attacking (ramblings). Even with the limitations of the technological weaponry, these means of attacking were not overwhelming by any stretch of the imagination, but they weren't useless either.
Pennsylvania infantry Regiment lined shoulder to shoulder. www.treasurenet.com
As with the American Civil War, Union soldiers were able to use such attacking strategies against defending Confederate soldiers in numerous battles, one of which was the decisive battle of Chattanooga where Union soldiers overtook defending Confederate positions in Southern territory (Britannica). The unstoppable power of the offensive with proper preparation was a popularly held belief mainly because it was shown to have been true on more than one occasion, ranging from the conquering days of Napoleon to the days of the American Civil War.
But the creation of a single weapon would gradually send this offensive idea to its end, at least for some time, until radically new weaponry and tactics were created that gave rise to a new frontier in warfare and technology. This weapon was the machine gun.
