Why Running the Gauntlet?

To run the gauntlet means to take part in a form of corporal punishment in which the party judged guilty is forced to run between two rows of soldiers, who strike out and attack them with sticks or other weapons. Metaphorically, this expression is also used to express the idea of a public trial that one must overcome.

What does going through the gauntlet mean?

phrase. If you run the gauntlet, you go through an unpleasant experience in which a lot of people criticize or attack you.

Has anyone survived running the gauntlet?

William Crawford was subjected to the gauntlet. He survived. Other prisoners, if they fell too many times or could not get up, were dispatched on the running line. Modern reenactors sometimes do a friendly version of the gauntlet for visitors or newbies.