Reenactor Shot At Raymond, Miss., Vicksburg Campaign Event

By Sheree Watson RAYMOND, Miss. - An Alabama infantry reenactor was shot in a "horrible accident" during a tactical at the Vicksburg Campaign II reenactment.

Jerrold S. Landers, 44, of Hartselle, Ala., was treated on May 5 by Dr. Bruce Shingleton, a urologist and assistant professor of surgery, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson for an apparent gunshot wound, according to UMC spokeswoman Leslie Myers. He was discharged the next day.

The shooting has been ruled accidental and the case is considered closed unless new witnesses or evidence indicate otherwise, said Pam Turner, investigator with the Hinds County Sheriff's Department.

Neither the weapon nor the bullet were found, and no one has determined who fired the shot.

"That man was truly blessed," Turner said, commenting on the potential seriousness of the shooting. Landers was shot in the groin area by a "projectile" that passed through him. Had it struck him differently, his injuries could have been life-threatening.

"My opinion is there should have been better gun safety officers there. They could have prevented this from happening," Turner said. "There should be a lesson learned in this." About 3,200 reenactors, including civilians, were registered for the campaign-style event. Organizers later announced they raised $25,000 toward their goal of purchasing 40 acres of the Raymond battlefield.

The shooting occurred around 7 a.m. Saturday, May 5, at a site off Highway 18 near Cidero Road. Turner said she received the call around 9:30 a.m. Landers was on the far right flank of his home unit, the 19th Alabama, which was galvanized as the 45th Illinois, when the order came to charge bayonets.

The group began marching, single file, when Landers heard a "pop" noise, felt a burning sensation and realized he was bleeding.

"I wasn't sure what really happened," recalled Landers, a cost analyst, in a phone interview while convalescing at his home.
"I thought something had went wrong with the gun and it blew a cap back at me. But I look at the rifle, and the cap was still there. My second thought is that a cartridge went off. So I did a mental check, and I'm still standing, and I realized I didn't drop any cartridge rounds. ä I told the first sergeant, 'I've been hit.'"

Capt. Mark Williams, who commanded Landers's unit, was about 10 feet away when he heard the commotion. Williams's company had been detached to engage Confederates who were in a cornfield next to the battalion line of march. His was the right-most unit, and Confederates were firing into the company's flank. Landers was last man on the company's right side, and was pushed near the edge of the woods that bordered the cornfield.

Some sporadic fire was coming from the cornfield, while most fighting was in the woods and railroad bed. Williams gave the call for a bayonet charge, and the men started forward.

"I hadn't taken many steps when he cried out 'I'm hit, I'm hit.' I rushed to him. I don't remember how he told me. He said it was stinging, and I thought a bee, spider, scorpion had gotten into his trousers."

Williams and another reenactor helped Landers disrobe enough to see the wound. "It looked like a small-caliber round, not a minie ball ring; the hole was too clear," Williams recalled.

A medic was located, and soon two Confederates who are emergency medical technicians came forward, followed by a couple physicians and other reenactors with medical training.

A mounted soldier was sent to direct the ambulance. Medical professionals on the scene felt Landers was stable, but told Williams and others that if the shot had been a few inches higher, it could have been life-threatening.

There were no spectators, Williams noted, so the shot had to have come from a reenactor.

"My own opinion is someone had a live round in a pistol and wasn't aware of it. Since we had broken the Confederate line and they were falling back, probably someone whipped a pistol out and fired that shot in our direction, but may not know it yet."

Landers and Williams estimated the shot was fired from 50 to 100 yards away. It entered Landers's groin area, traveling downward from his left to right before exiting.

The shooting brought a halt to activities as a standdown was called. "They searched everyone's equipment," Landers said.

"The event staff ordered it, and law enforcement did it. They went into haversacks, knapsacks, weapons - nothing showed up."

After the shooting, the event "lost its luster," Williams said. "Everything seemed surreal. 'This should not be happening. What I'm seeing here must be fantasy,'" Williams recalled thinking.

Remaining tacticals planned for the campaign-style event were canceled, and only the two scripted battles were conducted.

"There are a lot of theories and rumors. I just hope people will be logical," said Landers of what he and others described as an accident. Neither wadding or a "ring" that forms from a lead deposit in the barrel of a musket would pass through the body at that distance.

"I think it was just a horrible accident," Williams said. "It points out that we all need to redouble efforts in safety. I think as far as muskets go, we've done good job. I think it's pistols that get us in trouble."

Both men referred to an incident at the 135th Gettysburg event in which a French reenactor, who had borrowed a pistol from an American, unknowingly shot another reenactor with a live round during a battle.

Pistols were primarily carried by officers or high-ranking non-commissioned officers, Williams said. He recalled, however, seeing pistols fired by privates among the Confederates his troops faced at the tactical.

Landers, a week after the accident, was "doing pretty well," although still in pain. "I stayed down most of the week. I need to walk and do things, but not overexert myself."

When asked if he'd go into battle again at an event, Landers, who has reenacted since 1993, said, "I've been thinking about it. Over the years, we've had so few [real shootings], but one is one too many. It's a hobby. We should have to worry about it."

He and Williams urged that units strictly adhere to existing safety rules and possibly institute new or more rigorous inspection routines.

The caliber of the bullet that hit Landers is not known as it wasn't found. He and Williams estimated it at .36 caliber at most.

Stymieing efforts to determine who fired the shot is that it occurred toward the end, after ranks had been broken and the Confederates were divided into pockets throughout the wooded area. The men said they could not identify the troops immediately facing them.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Williams said. "We've always had twisted ankles, heat exhaustion, but this is the first time anything like this has happened."

He continued, "I honestly believe it was an accident. If someone was going to try to do him harm, they wouldn't have shot from that distance."

He added that the men were shoulder-to-shoulder, and it would have been difficult for someone to be sure they'd hit Landers and not the person next to him.

"Everything was searched and nothing was found. That's why I think it was a single round in a chamber that someone forgot about," Williams said.

Two men in Williams's unit have already told him they won't participate in battles anymore because of the incident. Directors of his battalion have opted to cancel a live fire that had been scheduled for mid-summer.

"The thing people kept saying is 'I didn't think you guys used real bullets.' We didn't either," Williams said. "It just takes one person who's not paying attention and some bad things can happen."

Many Federal troops left Saturday night, although Williams speculated that was mostly due to fatigue from the heat and the long afternoon battle.

"We all need to take gun safety extremely seriously," Williams said. "There is always a lunatic fringe in our hobby that see [Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms] agents behind every tree looking to snatch our weapons. But if we keep shooting ourselves, something will happen. If nothing else, liability insurance will skyrocket and that will shut us down right there. Every man out there must be his own safety manager."