Reenactor runs on field, grabs flag, destroys $4,000 in equipment

unicornforge

First Sergeant
Joined
Feb 14, 2007
Location
Near Gettysburg, PA
On TV yesterday, one of the court-type-shows showed two reenactors. One was the organizer of an event who had about $4,000 of equipment destroyed. The culprit was another reenactor who appeared at the last minute dressed as General Lee at the last minute as a walk-on. He/Lee decided to implement his own plan to rally the troops, without the knowledge or approval of the organizers, grabbed a flag, ran to the front, and when they tried to get him off the field he knocked over torches that lit the grass on fire destroying equipment including cannon carriages. The judge sided with the nutty General Lee impersonator who, on camera, insisted that the south would rise again, and that he wanted to change the outcome of the battle. The judge insisted that without a written script, and without somehow making the script known and available to the walk-on-Lee, that the reenactor could not be held accountable for the damage.

Shocking, to say the least.
 
Holy cow! Damage to property and putting others in a dangerous situation should be the least of the charges against this guy.

Could start a discussion in the reenactment community as to how reenactments are one/attended, etc.

--BBF
 
Damage to personal property is what it is... script or no script.... afraid to ask what staged reality style court show this was on... even worse what carnival event it reportedly happened at..... if someone had lost an artillery carriage due to this we certainly would have heard about it....
 
Its not a show that I have seen before, so I don't know the name of the show. Unfortunately, the "judge" had no clue as to the normal procedures and assumed policies and behaviors expected from participants. She expected somehow that all participants would and should receive their own copies of a written script. She did not understand that someone can't just throw on a general's uniform, run onto the field at the last moment, and in her words "play" any way they wanted because the person was not given his own copy of the script when he paid his entrance fee. The guy was a real wacky character who apparently firmly believed that because he was wearing a cheesy "general's" uniform on, that he could dictate the movement of troops from the front.

I feel that Ole has said it well... The organizer whose equipment was damaged was visibly shocked by the judge and her decision.
 
My suggestion would be for organizers to put on the release form that the signer will: 1) follow the directions of the two designated leaders 2) that "officers" will make the effort to contact someone on the staff to find out what they should be doing 3) reenactors in "officers" uniforms, or recognizable characters, that have not been assigned a role will stand to the side with other "personages" and not participate on the field. It might also be a good idea to have copies of the rules and script for anyone paying a last minute registration fee at the event, especially wacky "unaffiliated" types wearing polyester bizarre officer or character outfits.
 
Last edited:
Well, David, this is the justice system we have. The party who lost would have to pay many times that amount to regain his $4000 loss by appealing and hiring a better lawyer.

The guy was obviously playing outside of the rules but, strictly speaking, he had not been informed or signed onto the rules that most, if not all, reenactors understand and play by.:speechless:
 
Its not a show that I have seen before, so I don't know the name of the show. Unfortunately, the "judge" had no clue as to the normal procedures and assumed policies and behaviors expected from participants. She expected somehow that all participants would and should receive their own copies of a written script. She did not understand that someone can't just throw on a general's uniform, run onto the field at the last moment, and in her words "play" any way they wanted because the person was not given his own copy of the script when he paid his entrance fee. The guy was a real wacky character who apparently firmly believed that because he was wearing a cheesy "general's" uniform on, that he could dictate the movement of troops from the front.

I feel that Ole has said it well... The organizer whose equipment was damaged was visibly shocked by the judge and her decision.
Most of of these "Court-shows" are probably scripted anyway.
 
Sorry. I completely disagree. That "Lee" acted improperly and that damages subsequently ensued, does not necessarily make him reaponsible.

A nut job like that will only be held responsible for damages caused by his intentional or reckless conduct. Had he run onto the field carrying a tiki torch which is the cause of the fires, he's going to be responsible if he flings it into the air or drops it near a bunch of hay. If he's tackled while holding that torch which causes a fire, responsibility may shift to the person tackling him. Since he wasn't carrying a torch and since he was tackled/pushed/shoved/etc. into something which caused a fire, he should not be responsible.

This is a "poor Mrs. Palsgraf" issue. If you don't know her, try google.

I wouldn't worry about it. The people who were damaged probably received compensation from the TV show for their story.
 
There are lawyers who could have gone pro bono to handle the appeals for the case.

I'm surprised that none of the re-enactors in the behaving group were lawyers as to take up the case and/or appeals.

But, I too am surprise that this incident hasn't circulated around the re-enactment community. News like this would have traveled real fast! Like that musket that exploded and a guy who shot himself accidentally -- all made it around the re-enactment community.

Just my thoughts and opinions.

M. E. Wolf
 
Back
Top