Battle of Athens (1946)

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For other uses, see Battle of Athens (disambiguation).
Battle of Athens
Date August 1-2, 1946
Location Athens, Tennessee, United States
Result McMinn County government forced to disband, replaced by new government
Belligerents
Local World War II veterans and other citizens McMinn County Sheriff's Department
Commanders
Various GIs Sheriff Pat Mansfield, Paul Cantrell
Strength
* Dozens of men * 100+ deputies
Casualties and losses
Some injuries, no fatalities Some injuries, no fatalities

The Battle of Athens (sometimes called the McMinn County War) was a rebellion led by citizens in Athens and Etowah, Tennessee, United States, against the local government in August 1946. The citizens, including some veteran GIs from World War II, accused the local officials of corruption, political machinery and voter intimidation. The event is sometimes cited by firearms ownership advocates as an example of the value of the Second Amendment to bring fair elections.

Contents

[edit] Background

For years, citizens of McMinn County had been asking for federal observers to monitor their elections which they claimed were marred by fraud.[1] The wealthy Cantrell family ruled the county with Paul Cantrell being elected sheriff in the 1936, 1938, and 1940 elections. In 1942 and 1944, Cantrell was elected to the state senate and his former deputy, Pat Mansfield, was elected to Sheriff in his absence. A system of fees was established where the sheriff or deputies received a cut of the money for every person they booked, incarcerated, and released; the more arrests, the more money they made.[2] Often, buses were pulled over and people were randomly ticketed for drunkenness, whether guilty or not. During the 1940s, county residents alleged voter fraud and McMinn County residents petitioned the FBI to send election monitors, but the Department of Justice had not responded to McMinn County residents' complaints of election fraud in 1940, 1942 and 1944.[1]

After World War II ended, some 3,000 veterans returned to McMinn County. Sheriff Mansfield's deputies had brutalized many in McMinn County and the GIs held Cantrell politically responsible for Mansfield's doings. Early in 1946, Paul Cantrell again sought the Sheriff's office. Some newly-returned ex-GIs decided to challenge Cantrell politically, promise a fraud-free election, and created their own non-partisan ticket to fight the excessive fines:

“ There were several beer joints and honky-tonks around Athens; we were pretty wild; we started having trouble with the law enforcement at that time because they started making a habit of picking up GIs and fining them heavily for most anything—they were kind of making a racket out of it.

After long hard years of service—most of us were hard-core veterans of World War II—we were used to drinking our liquor and our beer without being molested. When these things happened, the GIs got madder—the more GIs they arrested, the more they beat up, the madder we got …

 ”
 
— Bill White [2]

In ads and speeches the GI candidates promised an honest ballot count and reform of county government. At a rally, a GI speaker said,

“ The principles that we fought for in this past war do not exist in McMinn County. We fought for democracy because we believe in democracy but not the form we live under in this county. ”

[edit] Outbreak of Hostility

The election was held on 1 August. To intimidate voters, Mansfield brought in some 200 armed "deputies". GI poll-watchers were beaten almost at once. At about 3 p.m., Tom Gillespie, an African-American voter, was told by a Sheriff's deputy, "'Nigger, you can't vote here today!!'". Despite being beaten, Gillespie persisted; the enraged deputy shot him. The gunshot drew a crowd. Rumors spread that Gillespie had been "shot in the back"; he later recovered.

Other deputies detained ex-GI poll-watchers in a polling place, as that made the ballot count "public". A crowd gathered. Sheriff Mansfield told his deputies to disperse the crowd. When the two ex-GIs smashed a big window and escaped, the crowd surged forward. The deputies, with guns drawn, formed a tight half-circle around the front of the polling place. One deputy mentioned, "his gun raised high ...shouted: 'Cross this street and I'll kill you!'"

Mansfield took the ballot boxes to the jail for counting. The deputies seemed to fear immediate attack, by the "people who had just liberated Europe and the South Pacific from two of the most powerful war machines in human history."

Short of firearms and ammunition, the GIs scoured the county to find them. By borrowing keys to the National Guard and State Guard Armories, they got three M-1 rifles, five .45 M1911 pistols, and 24 M1917 Enfield rifles. The armories were nearly empty after the war's end.

By eight p.m., a group of GIs and "local boys" headed for the jail to get the ballot boxes. They occupied high ground facing the jail but left the back door unguarded to give the jail's defenders an easy way out.

[edit] Combat

Three GIs, alerting passersby to danger, were fired on from the jail. Two GIs were wounded. Other GIs returned fire. Those inside the jail mainly used pistols, although they also had a .45 caliber Thompson sub-machine gun.

Firing subsided after 30 minutes: ammunition ran low and night had fallen. Thick brick walls shielded those inside the jail. Absent radios, the GIs' rifle fire was un-coordinated:

“ "From the hillside, fire rose and fell in disorganized cascades. More than anything else, people were simply 'shooting at the jail'." ”

Several who ventured into "no man's land", the street in front of the jail, were wounded. One man inside the jail was badly hurt; he recovered. Most sheriff's deputies wanted to hunker down and await rescue. Governor McCord mobilized the State Guard, probably to scare the GIs into withdrawing. However, the State Guard never went to Athens. McCord may have feared that Guard units filled with ex-GIs might not fire on other ex-GIs.

At about 2 a.m. on 2 August, the GIs forced the issue. Men from Meigs county threw dynamite sticks and damaged the jail's porch. The panicked deputies surrendered. GIs quickly secured the building. Paul Cantrell faded into the night, almost having been shot by a GI who knew him, but whose .45 pistol had jammed. Mansfield's deputies were kept overnight in jail for their own safety. Calm soon returned: the GIs posted guards. The rifles borrowed from the armory were cleaned and returned before sun-up.

[edit] Aftermath

Five GIs were on the ballots but the main election was between Knox Henry, who had served in the North African campaign, and Paul Cantrell. In five precincts free of vote fraud, the GI candidate for Sheriff, Knox Henry, won 1,168 votes to Cantrell's 789. Other GI candidates won by similar margins. After the election and battle, Knox Henry was declared the winner.

[edit] In the Media

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b The Battle of Athens, Tennessee (HTML). Published in Guns & Ammo (October 1995, pp. 50-51). Retrieved on 2007-10-15.
  2. ^ a b Lones Seiber (February/March 1985 Volume 36, Issue 2). THE BATTLE OF ATHENS (HTML). American Heritage. Retrieved on 2007-10-15.

[edit] External links

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