What Ever Happened To Safety First?
On Aug. 7 the Gettysburg Times reported a juvenile was injured by a muzzle blast during a skirmish reenactment Sunday Aug. 4, at the Steinwehr Avenue American Civil War Museum & Gettysburg Gift Center. “Kathy Schaeffer, mother of the injured individual, stated that she and her son (age 17)…were participating last weekend in a mock skirmish on Sunday around 3:30 p.m. on the grounds of the museum when her son was shot in the foot by a muzzle blast from another reenactor’s musket while the boy was under a blanket playing dead with his feet sticking out from under the cover.” The boy lost part of his toe after surgery. On Sept. 27 a Union Cavalry (re)enactor doing a film in Isle of Wight County (Virginia) was shot in the shoulder with a .44 live round from a Confederate (re)enactor with a loaded black powder revolver. The film company apparently allowed walk-ons without conducting any weapons safety examination or even a simple visual inspection for loaded guns. According to the local NBC affiliate, WAVY-TV, the injured (re)enactor said, "At the time we were in a ditch that acts as a trench and we had just driven the Confederates out of the trench, and we were all enthused about it, and under direction we raised our hats and hurrah, hurrah, hurrah...I got hit in the shoulder and I thought somebody had hit me with a shovel." Isle of Wight County Sheriff Charlie Phelps said he didn't have evidence that the filmmakers were negligent. "I can't say that anybody dropped the ball." Excuse the pun, but it appears somebody did a great deal worse than “drop the ball.” They dropped the hammer on a ball that hit and seriously injured a fellow (re)enactor. This is not only negligence it is quite possibly criminal negligence. This is the most serious incident since a shooting 10 years ago at the 135th (re)enactment of the Battle of Gettysburg. A Charlottesville man was wounded when he was accidentally shot by a re-enactor from France with a borrowed loaded revolver. More recently, the Associated Press in an article dated Oct. 25: “Reenactors' attention to detail was on display again this month at Cedar Creek Battlefield in northern Virginia, when thousands participated without any serious injuries, according to Jake Jennette, who commanded the Confederate forces that weekend.” Before we all start slapping each other on the back, consider that a Union (re)enactor portraying a “casualty” on the field became a real casualty on Oct. 18. A careless Confederate officer on horseback backed over the man’s head while he was on the ground. The Confederate Commander does not define the term “serious injury,” however, it was certainly serious to the fellow upon whose face the horse stepped three times in succession. There were far too many “real” casualties, with some requiring removal by stretcher and ATV, during the large Gettysburg Anniversary event, including but not limited to, a rider falling off the back of his horse at full gallop, unscripted hand-to-hand combat which included a little girl hit in the face with the barrel of a musket, twisted ankles from crossing the creek during Pickett’s Charge, an obstacle that never existed historically, and far too many cases of heat prostration to count. Let me hasten to add that this does not include the less serious but still too common incidents like permanent hearing loss from a double load exploded in ear drum of the front rank file partner (Tunnel Hill September 2008), heavy drinking and ensuing all night yahoo skirmishes (Chickamauga September 2008), ramming by horse or saber cuts from cavalry battles that go awry and become hot-blooded (any and all events with cavalry), and breaking away from scripted battle scenarios which resulted in charging artillery at an unsafe distance (Cedar Creek October 2008). Artillery placement (in general at most events) seems to be inviting disaster. There needs to be a sensible ratio of artillery-to-infantry; however, the event planners know the crowd comes for the big booms from the cannon. Perhaps the funds that go for attracting artillery crews in the form of bounties could be donated to battlefield preservation or to offset the cost of an onsite professional safety inspector? None of these incidents were unavoidable with even minor attention to common sense and following written safety regulations. The only good news to report in any of this was that there were no fatalities. The common denominator was that these were mostly larger mainstream events. It has been conceded in most cases that “mistakes were made.” This is all fine and good, but it is there any accountability? The better administered events of 2008, such as S. Chris Anders’ “At High Tide,” stick to well researched, detailed scripts with good topographical maps, probably using Google. The maps show the terrain well enough to help suggest troop movements at different phases of the battle (re)enactment. These are shared in advance with battalion commanders before the event. At the actual event there are scenario de-briefings that include all senior officers from both sides. Union and CS headquarters are asked to bring all staff, battalion and company commanders and some even have their sergeant majors in case they miss something (or need somebody who both reads and writes). Most have a designated safety officer on site. All these events feature a battlefield preservation component. The question that is taking shape for the 2009 campaign season seems to be, “Are the big mainstream Civil War events becoming unmanageable?” Sleeping outside on cold, hard ground and eating offal out of a haversack not withstanding, the lack of enforcement of any safety rules should be a pretty good reason for a (re)enactor staying home on the weekend of that Civil War event. If safety is of great importance as it should be, (re)enactors need to do a better job of picking which events to attend. The safety record is certainly much better at NPS battlefield living histories, such as the ones conducted at Chickamauga-Chattanooga and Stones River in North Georgia and Tennessee. Is it the events themselves or those who chose to participate in the events that are safer and better? It appears that the National Park Service actually takes safety seriously and enforces its safety rules on the participants at their events. It remains to be seen if the rest of the events on the 2009 schedule will do the same. Consider the safety record of the event when planning your schedule. EDITOR’S NOTE: Craig Barry explains The Watchdog’s (re)enactor style: Enact is a word Bill Christen made up for The Watchdog. Any event happens the first time. It was not an act to begin with so we are only enacting it this time around. Would you re-enact something once it was enacted? I will leave that question to the philosophers. |
