The Battle of Blair Mountain

Armed coal miners surrendering their weapons to federal troops. By Kinograms - https://libcom.org/gallery/battle-blair-mountain-1921-photo-galleryhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBAKGvOV6_k, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75210484
Armed coal miners surrendering their weapons to federal troops at the end of the Battle of Blair Mountain.

The Battle of Blair Mountain (August 25-September 2, 1921) in Logan County, West Virginia, was the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War, and the largest labor uprising in U.S. history. 10,000-15,000 coal miners battled 3,000 cops, private cops and vigilantes, who were backed by the coal bosses. Up to 100 miners died in the fighting, along with 10-30 Baldwin-Felts detectives and three national guards. Nearly 1,000 people were arrested. One million rounds were fired. And the government bombed striking coal miners by air, using homemade bombs and poison gas left over from World War I. This was the second time the government had used planes to bomb its own citizens within the U.S. (the first was against African American during the Tulsa pogrom, earlier that same year).

Flames across the Greenwood section of Tulsa. By United States Library of Congress - https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/95517018/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27952587
Flames across the Greenwood section of Tulsa.

Roots of the Uprising

Miners hold their rifles in Eskdale. By Unknown author - The Register-Herald Reporter Dec. 5, 2014https://www.register-herald.com/news/remembering-the-violent-coal-wars/article_8f70204b-634f-5df0-b065-6f5c721deec6.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74570249
Miners hold their rifles in Eskdale, during the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike.

From the late 1800s, mine owners forced workers to live in company towns. They deducted miners’ rent from their wages and paid them in scrip, which was worthless everywhere accept at the overpriced company stores. The work was extremely dangerous and safety equipment and precautions were minimal. And the mine owners routinely used private detectives and goons to spy on workers, infiltrate their meetings, beat them up, murder them, and block any attempts to unionize.

Holly Grove tent colony houses evicted miner families during the strike. By Unknown author - Charleston Gazette-Mail, September 8, 2018https://www.wvgazettemail.com/arts_and_entertainment/books/wv-book-team-paint-creek-cabin-creek-strike-of/article_20a6926c-5457-5893-b77d-f11633707920.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74569856
Holly Grove tent colony houses evicted miner families during the strike.

During the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike (April 1912 through July 1913), the sheriff and his deputies attacked the miners’ tent colony at Holly Grove, in West Virginia with the “Bull Moose Special” (an armored train fitted with machine guns). Mother Jones was one of the main organizers of this strike. Over 50 people died during the violent confrontations with scabs, goons and private detectives. Countless more died from starvation and malnutrition. In terms of casualties, it was one of the deadliest strikes in U.S. history.

United Mine Workers of America

Labor organizer Mother Jones rallying workers at the town of Montgomery in August 1912 during the Paint Creek--Coal Creek strike. By Unknown author - WVU Librarieshttps://news.lib.wvu.edu/2013/12/02/major-coal-strike-one-hundred-years-ago/https://wvhistoryonview.org/catalog/35%2F1a%2F4a%2Ff3%2F351a4af3-a6e1-425d-a53b-5132df7adbf0, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74554097
Labor organizer Mother Jones rallying workers at the town of Montgomery in August 1912 during the Paint Creek–Coal Creek strike.

Aggressive organizing by United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) in the late 1910s won miners a 27% wage increase miners in other parts of the U.S. Rank and file members started pressuring them to unionize Mingo and Logan Counties, in West Virginia, which were undercutting wages by enforcing nonunion hiring. The UMWA sent in their best organizers, including Mother Jones, who was now 83 years old. 3,000 men signed union cards in the early spring of 1920.

The mine owners hired the Baldwin-Felts detective agency to bust the union. This was the same union-busting detective agency that was responsible for the Ludlow Massacre, in Colorado, in 1914. Some of these detectives, along with vigilantes, routinely beat up and murdered union miners and organizers. And the company utilized the detectives to enforce the eviction from company housing of anyone who signed up with the union. So, hundreds of miners and their families were now living in the Stony Mountain Camp Tent Colony.

The Battle of Matewan

Former sheriff Sid Hatfield c. 1920. By Unknown author - https://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/wvpn/files/styles/x_large/public/201808/hatfield_0.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85921201
Former sheriff Sid Hatfield c. 1920.

The Battle of Matewan began on May 19, 1920 in the town of Matewan, Mingo County, West Virginia, when Sheriff Sid Hatfield, who supported the miners, tried to arrest the Baldwin-Felts private detectives who were evicting miners and their families. Albert Felts, brother of the owner of the detective agency, had tried to bribe mayor Testerman to place machine guns on the rooftops. He refused. Nevertheless, the Baldwin-Felts detectives still figured they had the upper hand and tried to arrest Hatfield using a bogus arrest warrant. Unbeknownst to the detectives, armed miners had surrounded them. No one knows who shot first, but when the smoke had cleared, there were seven dead detectives, including Albert and Lee Felts, and four dead townspeople, including the mayor.

In order to quell the violence, the governor sent in the state police to take control of Matewan. Hatfield cooperated. And the miners, encouraged by the departure of the Baldwin-Felts thugs, increased their organizing efforts. On July 1, they went on strike again and were met with even more violence. Striking miners were beaten and left to die in the streets. And the remaining Felts brother, Tom, instigated a vendetta against Sheriff Hatfield.

Section of Matewan's flood wall commemorating the Battle of Matewan. CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=117925007
Section of Matewan’s flood wall commemorating the Battle of Matewan.

Matewan Aftermath

Sheriff Hatfield became a symbol of hope to the miners, that the oppression of the mine owners could be defeated. Miners intensified their organizing and resistance over the summer, gaining strength in Mingo County. There were sporadic gun battles along the Tug River. On August 21, 1920 striking miners and guards fought a three-hour gun battle that left six more people dead. The federal government sent in 500 troops to quell the fighting and enforce martial law, and to ensure that scabs were able to get to and from the mines. The miners threatened a General Strikeif the troops did not cease their strikebreaking activities.  

On May 12-14, miners launched an attack on twelve mining towns along the Tug River in the Matewan-Williamson area. Scabs shot back. Cops, private detectives and Kentucky National Guardsmen joined the fight, remembered today as The Battle of the Tug, or Three Day’s Battle. In addition to the gun fighting, miners blew up bridges and tipples. Three people died from gunshots. Sheriff Sid Hatfield joined the battle on the miners’ side, punching a coal boss in the face. The war ended on May 15, when State Police arranged a truce.

The Battle of Blair Mountain Begins

Two union coal miners sitting in a sniper's nest with a machine gun. By Kinograms - https://libcom.org/gallery/battle-blair-mountain-1921-photo-galleryhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBAKGvOV6_k, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75210487
Two union coal miners sitting in a sniper’s nest with a machine gun.
A group of miners display one of the bombs dropped by Sheriff Chafin's airplanes. By Charleston Gazette - http://www.wvculture.org/HiStory/labor/mw25.jpg (Originally published in the Charleston Gazette on December 11, 1921), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44132724
A group of miners display one of the bombs dropped by Sheriff Chafin’s airplanes.

On August 1, 1921, surviving members of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency assassinated Sheriff Sid Hatfield, in broad daylight, on the steps of Welch County courthouse, as his wife watched in horror. As news of his death spread, miners began arming themselves. On August 7, 1,000 miners presented West Virginia Governor Morgan with a resolution calling for an end to martial law in Mingo County. He summarily rejected the miners’ demands. So, they threatened to march to the anti-union stronghold of Logan County to overthrow Sheriff Dan Chaffin, the coal company tyrant who murdered miners with impunity. Fearing a bloodbath, Mother Jones tried to dissuade them from marching. Many accused her of losing her nerve.

On August 20, 13,000 miners began the march toward Logan County. They commandeered a freight train to meet up with marchers from other counties. Meanwhile, Sheriff Chafin, with financial backing from the mine owners, had set up defenses on Blair Mountain, with 2,000 deputized goons. Fighting began a few days later. By August 29, it had become a full-fledged battle. Both sides used machine guns and Gatling guns. The government used private planes to bomb the miners from the air. They also used army bombers for surveillance.  

The Battle Continues

Cover of The Washington Times with the headline that the US airfleet had been sent into West Virginia. By The Washington Times - The Washington Times, 01 Sept. 1921.https://www.theclio.com/web/entry?id=22865, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75212118
Cover of The Washington Times with the headline that the US airfleet had been sent into West Virginia.

Sporadic gun battles continued for a week. At one point, the miners nearly broke through the government’s defenses to reach the non-unionized Logan and Mingo Counties. However, by September 2, federal troops had arrived. Many of the miners were veterans, themselves, and refused to fire on the soldiers, thus ending the battle. Soon after, they began to return home, hiding their weapons in the woods along the way.

The authorities indicted 985 miners for murder, conspiracy and treason against the State of West Virginia. The majority were acquitted by sympathetic juries. However, it was an overwhelming victory for the mine owners. UMWA membership dropped from over 50,000 to barely 10,000 over the next few years. And the union’s defeat in West Virginia weakened its power in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. By the end of 1925, Illinois was the only state left in the U.S. with a unionized coal mining industry.

Aftermath: This Ain’t West Virginia

Photographs of damage from coal miners strike at the Southern Illinois Coal Company mine in Herrin, Illinois, during the Herrin Massacre. The caption states that the upper photograph shows the remains of a supply house that was dynamited and burned, while the lower shows the remains of an oil house, near which two members of the mob of striking workers were shot and killed. A total of 19 strikebreakers and mine guards and 3 striking workers or supporters were killed during the Herrin Massacre. On page 1 of the June 27, 1922 Duluth Herald. By Unknown photographer, marked copyright u-u - The Duluth Herald (Jun. 1922) at the Internet Archive, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39738631
Photographs of damage from coal miners strike at the Southern Illinois Coal Company mine in Herrin, Illinois, during the Herrin Massacre. The upper photograph shows the remains of a supply house that they dynamited and burned. The lower shows the remains of an oil house, near where they shot and killed two members of the mob of striking workers.

On June 22, 1922, after guards shot and killed three striking miners at the Southern Illinois Coal Company, hundreds of union miners laid siege to the mine, using hammers, shovels and dynamite to wreck equipment. After the scabs, guards and superintendent surrendered, the strikers marched them into Herrin, five miles away. Along the way, they encountered a mob of angry miners. One of them shouted, “The only way to free the county of strikebreakers is to kill them all off and stop the breed!” Another said, “We must show the world this ain’t West Virginia,” referring to the Battle of Blair Mountain, nine months prior. Then the mob struck the scabs with rifle butts and told them to run for their lives, shooting them as they ran. In total, they killed 19 scabs and the mine superintendent.

Several strikers were eventually arrested and held in the Williamson County jail, which is now a historical museum focusing on the conflict. At the initial inquest, the coroner concluded that the deaths were “due to the acts direct and indirect of the officials of the Southern Illinois Coal Company.” They did not convict any of the miners, including those tried for murder.

West Virginia Coal Miners in Fiction

The novel Storming Heaven portrays the Battle of Blair Mountain. (Denise Giardina, 1987), Blair Mountain (Jonathan Lynn, 2006), and Carla Rising (Topper Sherwood, 2015). And John Sayles portrays the Matewan Massacre in his film, “Matewan.”

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