Battle of Athens couldn’t happen today.
People are too conditioned.
Battle of Athens couldn’t happen today.
People are too conditioned.
No thats not it at all. The Battle of Athens happened because the towns folks comprised mostly of ex WWII veterans witnessed the fraud occuring from Boss Cantrell. Here is the recap:
As the polls closed, and counting began (minus the three boxes taken to the jail), the GI-backed candidates had a three-to-one lead.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.”
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.The deputies knew little of battle 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 return fire from the jail with a barrage from above.
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. Woods and Mansfield constituted a majority of the election commission and could therefore certify and validate the count from within the jail.