Capt. Williams’ rapid fire cannon
first machine-gun used for combat

CSA Capt. D.R. Williams, like many Civil War artillery commanders, was looking for the perfect combat cannon.

In 1861, the Covington native thought he may have developed a weapon that would fill the bill.

The Williams Gun was classified by the Confederacy as a one-pound cannon – a breech-loading, rapid-fire weapon that was operated by a hand crank. It featured a four-foot long barrel in 1.57-inch caliber with a hand crank that opened the sliding breech allowing the crew to load a round and cap the primer. As the crank was continued, it closed the breech and automatically released the hammer. The effective range was 800 yards with a maximum range of 2,000 yards.

It was the first machine-gun type weapon ever used in combat, and, it was claimed that the “breech-loading rifle” could fire 20 balls per minute a distance of 1,500 yards.   Some sources said it could fire 65 rounds per minute, but accuracy was greatly reduced due to the manual loading. Union troops didn’t know what the gun was. Some described it as a rifled cannon while others reported that it fired nails, probably because of the noise the projectile made as it tumbled.

Approximately 40 of the guns were made, supplying seven different Confederate batteries, including those of Capt. Williams.

In March 1863, CSA Gen. Humphrey Marshall – a Frankfort native, prominent lawyer and former U.S. congressman from Kentucky – entered the Commonwealth as a major Southern force for Eastern Kentucky. He had been loaned the Williams Rapid Fire Gun by a private source and had it available for combat. 

While bivouacked in Magoffin County March 20, however, a problem arose. Union Capt. Reuben Patrick, whose residence was only a few miles away, crept up to Marshall's camp and waited until the sentinel fell asleep. Roaming through the sleeping camp, Patrick discovered the Williams Rapid Fire Gun. Capt. Patrick immediately decided to relieve the general of this rare piece of artillery. Being afraid that rolling it out of camp would awaken the enemy, Patrick quietly unscrewed the cannon from its frame, lifted it from its carriage and carried it into the nearby woods and laid it alongside of an old log, carefully camouflaging it with leaves.

The following morning, the Confederates were astounded when they found the carriage but not a trace of the cannon barrel. A thorough search was conducted, but nothing was found and thus Marshall grudgingly had to move on empty handed. The incident was a source of embarrassment to Marshall and the loss of the gun rankled deep in Marshall's breast for years.

After the Confederates left the area, Patrick returned and took charge of the carriage that had been left behind by the Confederates. He reassembled the cannon and rolled it to his home on Burning Fork where the captain kept it hidden for nearly a month.

Patrick, a native of Magoffin County, commanded a small company of home guards and scouts who scoured the mountains for rebels and kept a vigilant eye on his foes. Family members were strong Union supporters from the beginning of the war. An older brother, Elijah, served as scout and guide for Gen. William “Bull” Nelson during his Eastern Kentucky Campaign and his younger brother, Wiley C. Patrick, was a lieutenant and later captain of Company I, 14th KY Infantry. Reuben often worked with detachments of the 14th Kentucky and was able to provide vital information to the commander, located on the Big Sandy River at Louisa.

On April 17, 1863, a detachment of the 14th Kentucky Infantry was reinforced and when the troopers arrived, Patrick retrieved the Williams gun from its hiding place and the group headed for Louisa with Patrick astride the cannon. When they arrived in town, the captain received a raucous reception for his “brave deed.”

When the 14th Kentucky left the Commonwealth in May 1864 to join Gen. W.T. Sherman in the Atlanta Campaign, Col. George W. Gallup had no intentions of leaving the gun behind. He ordered Lt. Jacob M. Poage to take it to the arsenal in Frankfort, which was done immediately.

After the war, the Williams Gun was on display at the Old Arsenal in Frankfort until 1890 when Patrick decided to take it home to Salyersville for a family reunion. The gun remained in Magoffin County and was displayed on the lawn of the Patrick home until 1950, when John Arnett, Patrick’s great-grandson, moved it to Cleveland Heights in Ohio. In 1977, Arnett presented the gun to Nicky Hughes, curator of the Kentucky Military History Museum and Gen. William R. Buster, executive director of the Kentucky Historical Society.

The weapon remains on display at the Kentucky Military Museum.