Dr. Joseph Requa Civil War Dentist the Billinghurst Volley Gun

Dr. Requa, who from 1849 to 1853 served an apprenticeship in the gunmaking trade under William Billinghurst of Rochester, N.Y., changed professions to become a successful Dentist. In 1862, along with Billinghurst, he patented the multi-barrel volly gun which bears his name and offered it to President Lincoln. The Billinghurst-Requa battery gun predates the Gatling Gun and for this reason it is considered to be the first practical machine gun used in the war. This is the story of the man, the gun, the Batteries raised to man it, and its use during the Civil War. Dr. Josephus Requa, Civil War Dentist and the Billinghurst-Requa Volley Gun by Dr. John M. Hyson Jr. and Margaret Requa DeFrancisco. 36 pp., 33 ill.