2aguy
Diamond Member
- Jul 19, 2014
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I heard about this story on the Andre Klavan podcast.....it was recounted by Michael Knowles who has been discussing the 2nd Amendment and the high school shooting...
In this story, Americans.....being brutalized by a criminal government in Athens, Tennessee, use their privately owned guns....and seized military weapons to over throw the criminal and his minions....this is a true story of the 2nd Amendment and why we have it........
The 2nd Amendment is there to show that all Americans have the Right to bear arms to resist government crime and murder.....
Battle of Athens (1946) - Wikipedia
Well aware of the methods of Sheriff Mansfield and his thugs, the League organized a counterpoise. A "fightin' bunch" was organized by Bill White "to keep them from beating up GIs and keep them from taking the election."[16] White created his organization carefully; he later recalled: "I got out and started organizing with a bunch of GIs. Well spirits—I learned that you get the poor boys out of poor families, and the ones that was frontline warriors that's done fighting and didn't care to bust a cap on you. I learned to do that. So that's what I picked. I had thirty men and
... I took what mustering out pay I got and bought pistols. And some of them had pistols. I had thirty men organized".[16] Sheriff Mansfield also organized for the upcoming election, hiring 200 deputies, most from neighboring counties, some from out of state, at $50 a day (equivalent to $627 in 2017).[5]
Battle
Water Works Polling Place
Polls for the county election opened August 1, 1946. Normally, there were about 15 patrolmen on duty for the precincts, but about 200 armed deputies were on patrol for this election, with many of these reinforcements from other counties and states. In Etowah, a GI poll watcher requested a ballot box to be opened and certified as empty. Although he was allowed by law to make the request, he was arrested. In Athens, Walter Ellis protested irregularities in the election and was similarly arrested and charged with a federal offense.[13]
Around 3:00 p.m. local time, C.M. "Windy" Wise, a patrolman, in racist terms, refused an elderly African American farmer, Tom Gillespie, from casting his ballot at the Athens Water Works polling place. When Gillespie and a GI poll watcher objected, Wise struck Gillespie with brass knuckles, which caused Gillespie to drop ballot and run away from the deputy. Wise then pulled his pistol and shot Gillespie in the back.[5][13]
Wise was the only person to face charges from the events of August 1–2, 1946, and was sentenced to 1–3 years in prison.[15]
Response
GIs gathered in front of L.L. Shaefer's store which was used as an office by campaign manager Jim Buttram.[5] Buttram had telegraphed Governor McCord in Nashville and US Attorney General Tom Clark asking for help in ensuring a lawful election, but drew no response.[5] When the group learned that Sheriff Mansfield had sent armed guards to all polling places, they convened at the Essankay Garage where they decided to arm themselves.[5]
Sheriff Mansfield arrived at the Water Works and ordered the poll closed. In the commotion that followed, Wise and Karl Nell, the deputies inside the Water Works, took two poll watchers, Charles Scott and Ed Vestal, captive. By one account, Scott and Vestal jumped through a plate glass window and fled, to the safety of the crowd while Wise followed behind.[5] By another account there was a guns-drawn confrontation between Jim Buttram who was accompanied by Scott's father, and Sheriff Mansfield. A third account argues that when Neal Esminger from the Daily Post-Athenian showed up to get a vote count, his entrance was a distraction that allowed Scott and Vestal to break through a door and escape.[17] In any case, the escape was followed by gunfire which sent the crowd diving for cover.[13]
Someone in the crowd yelled, "Let's go get our guns," causing the crowd to head for the Essankay Garage. Deputy Chief Boe Dunn took the two deputies and the ballot box to the jail.[5] Two other deputies were dispatched to arrest Scott and Vestal. These deputies were disarmed and detained by the GIs, as were a set of reinforcements. GI advisor, Republican Election Commissioner and Republican Party Chairman, Otto Kennedy, asked Bill White what he was going to do. White said, "I don't know Otto; we might just kill them." According to White, Kennedy grew alarmed and announced "Oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord! No! I'm not having nothing else to do with this. Me and my brother and son-in-law is leaving here."[18] Lones Selber in American Heritage Magazine says Kennedy "left, vowing to have no part in murder."[5] The crowd and most GIs left. The remaining GIs took the seven deputies-turned-hostages to a woods ten miles from Athens, stripped them, tied them to a tree and beat them.[5][18]
Twelfth Precinct Polling Place
At the twelfth precinct the GI poll watchers were Bob Hairrell and Leslie Doolie, a one-armed veteran of the North African theater. The polling place was commanded by Mansfield man Minus Wilburn. Wilburn tried to let a young woman, who Hairrell believed was underage, vote who had no poll tax receipt and who was not listed in the voter registration.[13]Hairrell grabbed Wilburn's wrist when he tried to deposit the ballot in the box. Wilburn struck Hairrell on the head with a blackjack and kicked him in the face. Wilburn closed the precinct and took the GIs and ballot box across the street to the jail.[5] Hairrell was brutally beaten and was taken to the hospital.[13]
In response to cussing and taunts from the deputies, and the actions so far that day, Bill White, leader of the "fighting bunch," told his lieutenant Edsel Underwood to take 5 or 6 men and break into the National Guard Armory to steal weapons. The GIs took the front door keys from the caretaker and entered the building. They then armed themselves with sixty .30-06 Enfield rifles, two Thompson sub-machine guns and ammo. Lones Selber says White went for the guns himself.[5] Bill White then distributed the rifles and a bandoleer of ammo to each of the 60 GIs.[19]
Polls Closing
As the polls closed, and counting began (sans the three boxes taken to the jail), the GI-backed candidates had a 3 to 1 lead.[5][13][20] When the GIs heard the deputies had taken the ballot boxes to the jail, Bill White exclaimed, "Boy, they doing something. I'm glad they done that. Now all we got to do is whip on the jail."[19]
The GIs recognized that they had broken the law, and that Cantrell would likely receive reinforcements in the morning, so the GIs felt the need to resolve the situation quickly.[21] The deputies knew little of military tactics, but the GIs knew them well. By taking up the second floor of a bank across the street from the jail, the GIs were able to reciprocate any shots from the jail with a barrage from above.[21]
By 9:00 PM, Paul Cantrell, Pat Mansfield, George Woods (Speaker of the State House of Representatives and Secretary of the McMinn County Election Commission), and about 50 deputies were in the jail, allegedly rummaging through the ballot boxes. Wood and Mansfield constituted a majority of the election commission and could therefore certify and validate the count from within the jail.[21
In this story, Americans.....being brutalized by a criminal government in Athens, Tennessee, use their privately owned guns....and seized military weapons to over throw the criminal and his minions....this is a true story of the 2nd Amendment and why we have it........
The 2nd Amendment is there to show that all Americans have the Right to bear arms to resist government crime and murder.....
Battle of Athens (1946) - Wikipedia
Well aware of the methods of Sheriff Mansfield and his thugs, the League organized a counterpoise. A "fightin' bunch" was organized by Bill White "to keep them from beating up GIs and keep them from taking the election."[16] White created his organization carefully; he later recalled: "I got out and started organizing with a bunch of GIs. Well spirits—I learned that you get the poor boys out of poor families, and the ones that was frontline warriors that's done fighting and didn't care to bust a cap on you. I learned to do that. So that's what I picked. I had thirty men and
... I took what mustering out pay I got and bought pistols. And some of them had pistols. I had thirty men organized".[16] Sheriff Mansfield also organized for the upcoming election, hiring 200 deputies, most from neighboring counties, some from out of state, at $50 a day (equivalent to $627 in 2017).[5]
Battle
Water Works Polling Place
Polls for the county election opened August 1, 1946. Normally, there were about 15 patrolmen on duty for the precincts, but about 200 armed deputies were on patrol for this election, with many of these reinforcements from other counties and states. In Etowah, a GI poll watcher requested a ballot box to be opened and certified as empty. Although he was allowed by law to make the request, he was arrested. In Athens, Walter Ellis protested irregularities in the election and was similarly arrested and charged with a federal offense.[13]
Around 3:00 p.m. local time, C.M. "Windy" Wise, a patrolman, in racist terms, refused an elderly African American farmer, Tom Gillespie, from casting his ballot at the Athens Water Works polling place. When Gillespie and a GI poll watcher objected, Wise struck Gillespie with brass knuckles, which caused Gillespie to drop ballot and run away from the deputy. Wise then pulled his pistol and shot Gillespie in the back.[5][13]
Wise was the only person to face charges from the events of August 1–2, 1946, and was sentenced to 1–3 years in prison.[15]
Response
GIs gathered in front of L.L. Shaefer's store which was used as an office by campaign manager Jim Buttram.[5] Buttram had telegraphed Governor McCord in Nashville and US Attorney General Tom Clark asking for help in ensuring a lawful election, but drew no response.[5] When the group learned that Sheriff Mansfield had sent armed guards to all polling places, they convened at the Essankay Garage where they decided to arm themselves.[5]
Sheriff Mansfield arrived at the Water Works and ordered the poll closed. In the commotion that followed, Wise and Karl Nell, the deputies inside the Water Works, took two poll watchers, Charles Scott and Ed Vestal, captive. By one account, Scott and Vestal jumped through a plate glass window and fled, to the safety of the crowd while Wise followed behind.[5] By another account there was a guns-drawn confrontation between Jim Buttram who was accompanied by Scott's father, and Sheriff Mansfield. A third account argues that when Neal Esminger from the Daily Post-Athenian showed up to get a vote count, his entrance was a distraction that allowed Scott and Vestal to break through a door and escape.[17] In any case, the escape was followed by gunfire which sent the crowd diving for cover.[13]
Someone in the crowd yelled, "Let's go get our guns," causing the crowd to head for the Essankay Garage. Deputy Chief Boe Dunn took the two deputies and the ballot box to the jail.[5] Two other deputies were dispatched to arrest Scott and Vestal. These deputies were disarmed and detained by the GIs, as were a set of reinforcements. GI advisor, Republican Election Commissioner and Republican Party Chairman, Otto Kennedy, asked Bill White what he was going to do. White said, "I don't know Otto; we might just kill them." According to White, Kennedy grew alarmed and announced "Oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord! No! I'm not having nothing else to do with this. Me and my brother and son-in-law is leaving here."[18] Lones Selber in American Heritage Magazine says Kennedy "left, vowing to have no part in murder."[5] The crowd and most GIs left. The remaining GIs took the seven deputies-turned-hostages to a woods ten miles from Athens, stripped them, tied them to a tree and beat them.[5][18]
Twelfth Precinct Polling Place
At the twelfth precinct the GI poll watchers were Bob Hairrell and Leslie Doolie, a one-armed veteran of the North African theater. The polling place was commanded by Mansfield man Minus Wilburn. Wilburn tried to let a young woman, who Hairrell believed was underage, vote who had no poll tax receipt and who was not listed in the voter registration.[13]Hairrell grabbed Wilburn's wrist when he tried to deposit the ballot in the box. Wilburn struck Hairrell on the head with a blackjack and kicked him in the face. Wilburn closed the precinct and took the GIs and ballot box across the street to the jail.[5] Hairrell was brutally beaten and was taken to the hospital.[13]
In response to cussing and taunts from the deputies, and the actions so far that day, Bill White, leader of the "fighting bunch," told his lieutenant Edsel Underwood to take 5 or 6 men and break into the National Guard Armory to steal weapons. The GIs took the front door keys from the caretaker and entered the building. They then armed themselves with sixty .30-06 Enfield rifles, two Thompson sub-machine guns and ammo. Lones Selber says White went for the guns himself.[5] Bill White then distributed the rifles and a bandoleer of ammo to each of the 60 GIs.[19]
Polls Closing
As the polls closed, and counting began (sans the three boxes taken to the jail), the GI-backed candidates had a 3 to 1 lead.[5][13][20] When the GIs heard the deputies had taken the ballot boxes to the jail, Bill White exclaimed, "Boy, they doing something. I'm glad they done that. Now all we got to do is whip on the jail."[19]
The GIs recognized that they had broken the law, and that Cantrell would likely receive reinforcements in the morning, so the GIs felt the need to resolve the situation quickly.[21] The deputies knew little of military tactics, but the GIs knew them well. By taking up the second floor of a bank across the street from the jail, the GIs were able to reciprocate any shots from the jail with a barrage from above.[21]
By 9:00 PM, Paul Cantrell, Pat Mansfield, George Woods (Speaker of the State House of Representatives and Secretary of the McMinn County Election Commission), and about 50 deputies were in the jail, allegedly rummaging through the ballot boxes. Wood and Mansfield constituted a majority of the election commission and could therefore certify and validate the count from within the jail.[21
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