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https://www.rootsweb.com/~ilcivilw/p...9thillreg.html The photo shown below from this excellent site is purported to show the 39th Illinois manning a "Regimental Battery." Upon closer view they are manning a "Requa Battery" of "Machine Guns" during the siege of Charleston. Built by the Billinghurst Co. of Rochester, NY, these guns had 25 barrels of .56 caliber and were mounted on a light metal platform. With a crew of 3 men they could be fired at a rate of 7 volleys or 175 shots per minute. They were primarily for defense but were used against Ft. Sumter on at least one occasion until they jammed from overheating. They were dubbed the "Mosquito Battery." You don't see pictures of these everyday.
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Last edited by roundshot; 04-28-2007, 02:35 PM.Bob Williams
26th North Carolina Troops
Blogsite: http://26nc.org/blog/
As [one of our cavalry] passed by, the general halted him and inquired "what part of the army he belonged to." "I don't belong to the army, I belong to the cavalry." "That's a fact," says [the general], "you can pass on." Silas Grisamore, 18th Louisiana -
Re: Rare Machine Gun Battery photo
Very cool picture!T. N. Harrington
Traveling Photographic Artist
Daguerreotypes and Wet-plate Collodion Photographs
Winchester, Virginia -
Re: Rare Machine Gun Battery photo
Does anyone know where I can get a set of plans for a Billinghurst-Requa gun?Mike FraeringComment
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Re: Rare Machine Gun Battery photo
I'd try the Patent Office for starters. If you know the approximate date(s) of production, Scientific American may also be of help.
Good hunting.
JimJames BrennerComment
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Re: Rare Machine Gun Battery photo
The patent office apparently no longer has the full text of the patent. Here's the drawing and spec sheet.
Billinghurst-Requa Patent.pdfEric Paape
Because the world needs
one more aging reenactorComment
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Re: Rare Machine Gun Battery photo
Thanks! Much obliged!Mike FraeringComment
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Re: Rare Machine Gun Battery photo
The original link is no longer there, so here is the photo:
Last edited by Eric Tipton; 12-26-2014, 10:05 AM.ERIC TIPTON
Former AC OwnerComment
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