Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/657

 GATESHEAD GAUCHOS 645 siderable detachment, and in March, 1777", in effect superseded Schuyler in the command of the northern army, and was superseded by him in May. When, however, Schuyler was obliged to retreat down the Hudson by the disasters which followed the loss of Ticonderoga, Gates was reinstated in the command by congress, Aug. 4, 1777. The surrender of the British army at Saratoga, which followed, gave him a brilliant military repute, though it was in some measure due to the previous operations of Schuyler. In the winter of 1777-'8 " Gon way's cabal" intrigued to wrest the supreme command from Washington to bestow it upon Gates. The latter was engaged in no important military operations till in June, 1780, he was appointed to the command of the southern forces. The disastrous battle of Gamden (Aug. 16) lessened his military fame, and he was superseded by Gen. Greene. His conduct was scrutinized by a committee of congress, and after the surren- der of Gornwallis he was restored to his mili- tary position. On the conclusion of peace he retired to his estate in Virginia, whence, after emancipating all his slaves, he removed in 1790 to the city of New York. GATESHEAD, a municipal and parliamentary borough of Durham, England, on the right bank of the river Tyne, opposite Newcastle, with which it is connected by a fine railway viaduct and by a stone bridge; pop. in 1871, 48,592. Its manufactures are closely connect- ed with those of Newcastle, and comprise ships, anchors, chain cables, nails, hemp, wire ropes, iron castings, locomotive engines, boilers, &c. There are extensive collieries and grindstone quarries in the vicinity. OATH, one of the five chief cities of Philistia, often mentioned in the history of David and his successors. The giant Goliath, who was slain by David, was either a native or an inhabitant of Gath. It was for centuries alternately un- der the power of the Jewish kings or indepen- dent, except a short period when it was under Syrian rule. In the time of Jerome it was a "very large village." There is much dispute as to its site, three different places being sug- gested. The one now considered most proba- ble is Tel es-Safieh, 10 m. S. E. of Ashdod, and 22 m. S. W. of Jerusalem, where are considera- ble ruins. GATLING, Richard Jordan, an American inven- tor, born in Hertford co., N. 0., Sept. 12, 1818. While yet a boy he assisted his father in per- fecting a machine for sowing cotton seed, and another machine for thinning cotton plants. Subsequently he invented and patented a seed- sowing machine for sowing rice. Removing to St. Louis in 1844, he adapted his invention to sowing wheat in drills. For several winters he attended medical lectures at Laporte, Ind., and at the Ohio medical college in Cincinnati ; and in 1849 he removed to Indianapolis, where he engaged in real estate speculations and rail- road enterprises. In 1850 he invented a dou- ble-acting hemp brake, and in 1857 a steam plough, which however he did not bring to practical results. In 1861 he conceived the idea of the revolving battery gun which bears his name. (See AETILLEEY, vol. i., p. 797, and GANNON, vol. iii., p. 713.) He made his first gun at Indianapolis in 1862, and in the fall of that year he made six of the guns at Cincin- nati, which were destroyed by the burning of the factory. He subsequently had 12 manu- factured, which were used by Gen. Butler on James river. In 1865 he further improved his invention, and in the year following, after sat- isfactory trials 'at Washington and at Fortress Monroe, the arm was adopted into the United States service. It is also made in Austria and England, and has been adopted by sev- eral governments of Europe. During the past ten years Dr. Gatling has devoted himself to the perfection of this invention, spending much time abroad in testing his gun in public ; and he now (1874) resides in Hartford, Conn. GAUCHOS, horsemen of the plains in the Argen- tine and other South American republics. They are generally of pure Spanish race, having min- gled but little with the aborigines. They are usually tall and graceful ; their hair is black and frequently worn long, with full beards and mous- taches. Their dress consists of a loose flowing shirt, at times fancifully embroidered ; wide drawers, the lower extremities of which are commonly of open work and terminated with a fringe ; a quadrangular piece of stuff passed between the legs and bound to the waist, one end in front and the other behind, by means of a belt, so as to fall in folds far below the knees ; boots of the skin of a colt's hind legs ; a poncho, worn only in wet or cold weather ; and finally a small round hat, with a narrow brim. To shield the back of the head and neck from the rays of the sun, the gaucho makes use of a handkerchief fastened to the crown of the hat, falling down behind, and se- cured by drawing the two lower corners be- neath the chin. When not exposed to the sun, the handkerchief lies loosely upon the shoul- ders, with a sailor's knot in front. To these are added a long knife, the trador, which per- forms the double office of purse and girdle, and a pair of huge spurs. The dress of the women, most of whom are remarkably handsome, is composed of a low-cut tightly fitting bodice and short skirt, with a shawl so drawn around the head as barely to leave the face and front hair visible, but completely covering the neck and shoulders. The arms are rarely encum- bered by any garment ; and the hair is secured by a large comb. When on horseback the wo- men often wear European dresses with body and sleeves, and a handkerchief like that of the men. The gaucho dwellings are rude huts, with walls of alternate layers of willow and mud, the roof being thatched. The furniture is extremely scanty. It usually consists of a wooden bedstead, with a mattress of skin bound to the sides with thongs; two ropes stretched parallel to each other from wall to