The Battle of Athens Tenn 1946

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Uploaded by on Aug 16, 2010

This iz one of those moveez that you don't see all the time and is very hard to find. Although a movie the was an true account dated back in 1946. The event is sometimes cited by firearms ownership advocates as an example of the value of the Second Amendment in combating tyranny.
The primary election was held on August 1. 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 that he could not vote. 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 counting "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, "his gun raised high...shouted: 'If you sons of bitches cross this street 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 M1 Garand rifles, five .45 semi-automatic pistols and 24 British Enfield rifles. The armories were nearly empty after the war's end. By 8 p.m. a group of GIs and "local boys" headed for the jail but left the back door unguarded to give the jail's defenders an easy way out.
Three GIs alerting passersby to danger were fired on from the jail. Two GIs were wounded. Other GIs returned fire.
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 uncoordinated. "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 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, perhaps to scare the GIs into withdrawing. 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 August 2, 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, having almost 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 sunup.

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Top Comments

  • If you vote then the government will win. You are no more than livestock to the government. Now get back to work and pay yur taxes!

  • And the American Militias will rise against tyranny weather Federal, or local. Americans! you are the Militia!

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All Comments (9)

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  • Recall elections with a full ticket of candidates. That's what the GI's did and they hammered the enemy incessantly on the campaign. That's the model we've always needed to beat back tyranny-hit them where they're weakest which is at the local level!

  • i live in Athens,tn

  • @bulldogger 'An American Story' 1992 Made for TV movie loosely based on The Battle of Athens TN 1946

  • Bunch of hogwash&sh!t--Since then, If true,Americans learned not a FKN thing. Most elections are rigged,Kosher media are the king makers--ask turd jr Bush :^/

  • What's the movie called?

  • HECK YES! THAT IS TRUE AMERICANS VS TYRANNY!

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