Battle of Athens ( 1946 ) 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 World War II veterans , accused the local officials of political corruption and voter intimidation . The event is sometimes cited by firearm s ownership advocates as an example of the value of the Second Amendment in combating tyranny . Background . Citizens of McMinn County had long been concerned about political corruption and possible election fraud . The U . S . Department of Justice had investigated allegations of electoral fraud in 1940 , 1942 , and 1944 , but had not taken action . In 1936 the system descended upon McMinn County in the person of one Paul Cantrell , the Democratic candidate for sheriff . Cantrell , who came from a family of money and influence in nearby Etowah , tied his campaign closely to the popularity of the Roosevelt administration and rode FDR ’ s coattails to victory over his Republican opponent . Paul Cantrell was elected sheriff in the 1936 , 1938 , and 1940 elections , and was elected to the state senate in 1942 and 1944 , while his former deputy , Pat Mansfield , was elected sheriff . A state law enacted in 1941 had reduced local political opposition by reducing the number of voting precinct s from 23 to 12 and reducing the number of justices of the peace from fourteen to seven ( including four " Cantrell men " ) . The sheriff and his deputies worked under a fee system whereby they received money for every person they booked , incarcerated , and released ; the more arrests , the more money they made . Buses passing through the county were often pulled over and the passengers were randomly ticketed for drunkenness , whether guilty or not . In the August 1946 election , Paul Cantrell was once again a candidate for sheriff , while Pat Mansfield sought the state senate seat . After World War II ended , some 3 , 000 military veteran s ( constituting about 10 percent of the county population ) had returned to McMinn County . Some of the returning veterans resolved to challenge Cantrell ' s political control by fielding their own nonpartisan candidates and working for a fraud - free election . They called themselves the GI Non - Partisan League . Veteran Bill White described the veterans ' motivation : Combat veteran Knox Henry stood as candidate for sheriff in opposition to Cantrell . In advertisements and speeches , the GI candidates promised an honest ballot count and reform of county government . At a rally , a GI speaker said , Battle . Polls for the county election opened August 1 , 1946 . About 200 armed deputies turned out to patrol the precincts — the normal complement of 15 deputies significantly augmented by reinforcements from other counties . A number of conflicts arose before the polls closed , the most serious of which was when a black man , Tom Gillespie , was assaulted by officers after casting his vote . Deputy C . M . Wise shot and wounded him in the back while he was trying escape from the officers . C . M . Wise was later sentenced to 1 – 3 years in prison , being the only person to face charges from the events of August 1 – 2 , 1946 . As the polls closed , deputies seized ballot boxes and took them to the jail . Opposition veterans responded by arming themselves and marching there . Some of them had raided the National Guard Armory , obtaining arms and ammunition . Estimates of the number of veterans besieging the jail vary from several hundred to as high as 2 , 000 . When the men reached the jail , it was barricaded and manned by 55 deputies . The veterans demanded the ballot boxes but were refused . They then opened fire on the jail , initiating a battle that lasted several hours by some accounts , considerably less by others . In the end , the door of the jail was dynamited and breached . The barricaded deputies — some with injuries — surrendered , and the ballot boxes were recovered . During the fight at the jail , rioting had broken out in Athens , mainly targeting police cars . This continued even after the ballot boxes were recovered , but subsided by morning . Aftermath . The recovered ballots certified the election of the five GI Non - Partisan League candidates . Among the reforms instituted was a change in the method of payment and a $ 5 , 000 salary cap for officials . In the initial momentum of victory , gambling houses in collusion with the Cantrell regime were raided and their operations demolished . Deputies of the prior administration resigned and were replaced . The new government encountered challenges including at least eleven resignations of county administrators . On January 4 , 1947 , four of the five leaders of the GI Non - Partisan League declared in an open letter : " We abolished one machine only to replace it with another and more powerful one in the making . " The League failed to establish itself permanently and traditional political parties soon returned to power . In the media . The 1992 made - for - television movie " An American Story " ( produced by the Hallmark Hall of Fame ) was based upon the McMinn County War but set in a Texas town in 1945 . It was nominated for two 1993 prime time Emmy Awards and one American Society of Cinematographers award . The battle is also mentioned in the book " Unintended Consequences " .