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The Fighting Bunch: The Battle of Athens and How World War II Veterans Won the Only Successful Armed Rebellion Since the Revolution
The incredible, untold story of the WWII vets who overthrew their corrupt hometown government--the only successful armed rebellion on US soil since the War of Independence. Corrupt politician Paul Cantrell was in complete control of McMinn County, Tennessee, his whims enforced by the violent Sheriff Pat Mansfield and his deputies. On Election Day, Cantrell and the sheriff seized the ballot boxes and brought them to the jail to be counted in secret. Soldiers came home from World War II to find their community in the grips of this corrupt political machine. These veteran soldiers, who became known as The Fighting Bunch, armed themselves and lay siege to the jail as the National Guard closed in. After six hours of gunfire and dynamite blasts, Boss Cantrell and Sheriff Mansfield fled the state. The deputies surrendered. The ballot boxes were opened and counted. The GI slate was elected, and the story buried. This episode in US history has never been more relevant, but has never been fully told. After years of research, including exclusive interviews with the remaining witnesses, archival radio broadcast and interview tapes, scrapbooks, letters, and diaries, author Chris DeRose has reconstructed one of the seminal--yet untold--events in American election history.
Audio CD
Published March 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 3, 2021
I don’t usually review books but this one was amazing. Finished it in a day, was completely raptured. Never heard about the incident in American history. Author did a great job building the characters and didn’t feel embellished. Will read again
June 24, 2023
Every American should know this story.
March 21, 2024
Smooth read, awesome and exhaustive compilation of research, badass story
July 21, 2023
I really enjoyed this book, which I read in conjunction with
Wilmington's Lie
, which I found first. I was curious because the author describes the events in Athens, TN as "the only successful armed rebellion since the Revolution," and yet just a few decades earlier in North Carolina there was an armed white supremacist coup against the local government. But this piece of dissonant advertising aside, I enjoyed this book.
The author writes compellingly about the lives and challenges of the players in this Battle of Athens. The blatant theft of elections, including assault, murder, intimidation, and ballot tampering was brought to heel when the combat-hardened local boys returned from the Europe and Pacific theaters of WWII. The bad guys were run out of town and some faced justice (while others seemed to live out their days in quiet exile).
The action setpieces of the book (during the war and during the Battle) are vividly described and the personages come alive, which is wonderful. I am curious what the author would say about the Wilmington coup and how that is or is not to be counted as an armed rebellion. Without addressing it, this book feels inadequate to the task it set for itself, but it was a highly enjoyable book nonetheless.
The author writes compellingly about the lives and challenges of the players in this Battle of Athens. The blatant theft of elections, including assault, murder, intimidation, and ballot tampering was brought to heel when the combat-hardened local boys returned from the Europe and Pacific theaters of WWII. The bad guys were run out of town and some faced justice (while others seemed to live out their days in quiet exile).
The action setpieces of the book (during the war and during the Battle) are vividly described and the personages come alive, which is wonderful. I am curious what the author would say about the Wilmington coup and how that is or is not to be counted as an armed rebellion. Without addressing it, this book feels inadequate to the task it set for itself, but it was a highly enjoyable book nonetheless.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews