Remembering the Battle of Athens 8-1&2 1946

Remembering the Battle of Athens 8-1&2 1946

I had never heard of the battle of Athens until recently. This spot where “The Friendly City” received national recognition shortly after WWII seems to be forgotten or more likely swept under the rug.

Yesterday, I drove through Athens and found the historical marker that marks the location of the old Jail. I drove on up to Fort Loudoun to see where the political corruption got its root in the area even before the removal of the Cherokee.

The politics of McMinn county had become increasingly corrupt for ten years or so leading up to the battle. While the real men of the community where away fighting the war, the corrupt politicians had tightened their strangle hold on the community.

Elections had become a total sham and the police force ruled the area with an iron fist or blackjack. Illegal whisky flowed freely at the casinos and night clubs. Political officials would occasionally roll an unsuspecting patron of his cash and then parade him in front of the church folks as an example of how they were cleaning up the very corruption they sponsored.

When the GI’s returned from War, they found the very freedoms they had fought for were no where to be found in their home of Athens, Tn. They also found themselves not too welcome by “The Friendly City.”

They formed their own non partisan political organization called the GI party. Their mission was to make sure ht elections were held fairly and that votes were to be counted as cast.

The voting fraud described from the period seems comical. There were the normal stories of the bally boxes being stuffed with names from tombstones. There were stories of having a midget hiding under the table where the ballot box was and pulling out ballots of the opposing party. And there were stories of busses going around from polling place to polling place where supporters would vote again and again in exchange for cash or liquor.

I am not sure why they even bothered with all that because the real fraud was in the vote counting anyway. Where the polls closed, the ballots were counted in secret and the results announced by the controlling organization.

The trouble began early in the morning when the GI part tried to make sure the polls were operating legally. The Sheriff in power had brought in mercenaries from all over east Tennessee and north Georgia. One of the GI poll watchers was shot early in the morning as a warning to others. Many others faced physical intimidation. However, the incumbents did not realize that the GIs were accustomed to facing death at the barrel of a gun and fighting for their lives. The GIs were not intimidated.

At the end of the day when the ruling party tried to take the ballot boxes away to be counted in secret, the GIs fought back. The boxes were successfully moved to the jail for safe keeping. However, the GIs armed themselves with what ever weapons and ammunition they could find and began a siege of the jail.

By morning they had defeated the sheriff and the corrupt politicians had left town. A new county government was formed from scratch. The episode made national headlines but was quickly forgotten.

The full story if told in an excellent book by Howard Cook. The book tells the story of Bill White who was instrumental in leading the battle of Athens. That is when he was not locked in his bedroom by his mother. The book tells of Bill White learning about political corruption from the Indian stories and visiting places like Fort Loudoun, Toqua and Chota near Athens.

The story continues to show how Bill was trained for battle in the Marines and how he faced death so that he was not at all intimidated by the sheriff’s guns when he got back home.

Swifter than eagles: Bill White and the battle of Athens, 1946 is an excellent story that captures not only the historical and political perspective of the story but also explains the personalities of the men behind the story. Cook gives the background not only of Bill White but of the area to put the two day episode in perspective.

It is a shame that the book is out of print and no electronic version is available. It make san excellent lesson in government and politics that I think we could all learn from these days.

You may find a used or collectors copy on Amazon:Swifter than eagles: Bill White and the battle of Athens, 1946 : a nonfiction novel Thanks to Sherry Crye for loaning me her signed copy.