The Battle of Blair Mountain – Underground History

1921 – The Battle of Blair Mountain

America’s Largest Labor Uprising

AI Audio Overview

Overview

The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest armed labor uprising in United States history, with up to 15,000 coal miners battling 3,000 company defenders for five days in 1921, representing both the climax and defeat of militant labor organizing in Appalachian coalfields. This extraordinary confrontation on a West Virginia ridgeline saw the first aerial bombing of American citizens on U.S. soil, federal military intervention with over 2,000 troops, and approximately one million rounds fired in combat that would ultimately transform American labor relations. While the immediate battle ended in defeat for the miners, their struggle directly influenced New Deal legislation that eventually guaranteed workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively.

Industrial Slavery in Company Towns

West Virginia’s coal industry had exploded from 489,000 tons in 1869 to 89 million tons by 1917, creating what Louisiana State University historian Ronald Garay called an “industrial triad” of coal, steel, and railroads that dominated the American economy. This rapid expansion required massive labor recruitment from rural Appalachia, European immigrants (particularly Polish, Hungarian, and Italian), and African Americans migrating north. By the early 1920s, foreign-born and African American populations combined outnumbered native-born whites in many southern counties.

The company town system created comprehensive corporate control that approached industrial slavery. Coal companies owned homes, stores, schools, churches, and recreational facilities, establishing a totalitarian environment where miners were paid in “coal scrip” – private currency redeemable only at company stores charging inflated prices. Approximately 80% of West Virginia miners lived in company houses and shopped at company stores by 1922, trapped in a system of debt peonage where pay envelopes often contained pennies or nothing after deductions for rent, electricity, fuel coal, doctor’s fees, and scrip advances. Companies employed the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency as a private army, using “yellow dog contracts” prohibiting union membership and blacklisting union sympathizers throughout the region.

Working conditions were catastrophically dangerous. West Virginia had the highest mine death rate in the nation between 1890 and 1912, with 4,260 miners killed between 1910-1920 alone. The 1907 Monongah disaster killed 361 miners in a single explosion, the worst mining disaster in U.S. history. One historian noted that during World War I, a U.S. soldier had better statistical chances of surviving battle than a West Virginia coal miner. Children as young as 10 worked as slate pickers, families crowded into tar paper shacks near mine entrances, and miners faced constant threats from roof collapses, gas explosions, and machinery accidents.

The Road to Armed Conflict Through Matewan

The Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike of 1912-1913 established the pattern of escalating violence that would culminate at Blair Mountain. When 7,500 miners struck for union recognition and basic rights, coal operators hired 300 Baldwin-Felts guards who constructed iron and concrete forts with machine guns throughout the strike area. The infamous “Bull Moose Special” – an armored train with machine guns – conducted nighttime raids on miner tent colonies, killing Italian miner Francis Francesco Estep at Holly Grove. Governor William E. Glasscock declared martial law, deploying 1,200 state troops who seized weapons and arrested 200 strikers including Mother Jones. The strike lasted 13 months, resulting in 12 striker and 13 company deaths, with an estimated $100 million in damages.

The Matewan Massacre of May 19, 1920, dramatically escalated tensions when Police Chief Sid Hatfield confronted Baldwin-Felts agents evicting union miners. The resulting gunfight killed seven Baldwin-Felts agents including brothers Albert and Lee Felts, two miners, and Mayor C.C. Testerman. Hatfield became a hero to miners across the region, and by July 1920, over 90% of Mingo County miners had joined the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). His assassination on August 1, 1921, at the McDowell County Courthouse steps – shot four times in broad daylight by Baldwin-Felts agents who were later acquitted – became the immediate catalyst for the march on Blair Mountain.

Military Organization and Federal Intervention

The miners organized their march with remarkable military precision, reflecting the presence of approximately 2,000 World War I veterans in their ranks. Beginning August 20, 1921, at Lens Creek Mountain in Kanawha County, the force grew to an estimated 10,000-15,000 armed miners who adopted red bandanas as identification (cementing “redneck” terminology), established medical corps and supply units, implemented passwords and guards, and commandeered trains and vehicles for transportation. Bill Blizzard, whose mother Sarah “Ma” Blizzard was a legendary union activist, emerged as the de facto commander after UMWA District 17 leaders Frank Keeney and Fred Mooney fled to Ohio when charged with murder.

Sheriff Don Chafin of Logan County, paid $32,700 annually by the Logan County Coal Operators Association (equivalent to about $550,000 today), organized the defense with 3,000 deputies, state police, National Guard, and Baldwin-Felts agents. His forces established a 15-mile defensive line along Blair Mountain ridge with WWI-style trenches, machine gun nests strategically positioned for interlocking fields of fire, and chartered three civilian biplanes that dropped improvised bombs filled with nausea gas, gunpowder, nuts, and bolts – marking the first aerial bombardment of American citizens on U.S. soil.

The weaponry deployed included an extraordinary array of modern arms. Miners carried Winchester Model 1873 rifles, Springfield M1903 military rifles from WWI service, Swiss Vetterli “poor man’s bear guns,” and at least one captured Gatling gun. Defenders possessed 37 Thompson submachine guns (newly invented, with the West Virginia State Police receiving them from the first 3,250 produced), Colt-Browning “potato digger” machine guns, multiple Gatling guns, and military surplus from the Charleston state armory.

President Warren G. Harding’s intervention proved decisive. After initially threatening federal action on August 26, he deployed 2,106 federal troops on September 2, including the 19th Infantry from Ohio, 10th Infantry from Ohio, 40th Infantry from Kentucky, 26th Infantry from New Jersey, and Chemical Warfare troops with tear gas from Maryland. General Billy Mitchell, fresh from sinking the German battleship Ostfriesland, commanded 14 bombers and reconnaissance aircraft, though federal planes conducted surveillance only – the actual bombing was done by Chafin’s private aircraft.

Five Days of Intense Combat

The battle proper began August 31, 1921, when Reverend John Wilburn led 75 miners in a dawn patrol that encountered three deputies. Deputy John Gore shot and killed Black miner Eli Kemp, then was immediately killed by Wilburn in return fire, officially beginning the Battle of Blair Mountain. The main assault commenced with miners advancing on entrenched positions but being repeatedly driven back by machine gun fire from the high ground despite their superior numbers.

September 1 saw the heaviest fighting, with all-day battle along the ridgeline and Chafin ordering his chartered planes to drop their crude bombs on miner positions. An estimated one million rounds were fired during the battle, with WWI veterans comparing the constant roar of gunfire along the 10-mile front to European battlefields. Archaeological evidence has since revealed heavy concentrations of .45 ACP cases from Thompson submachine gun fire, confirming the intensity of combat.

The arrival of federal troops on September 3 effectively ended the conflict. Many miners, being World War I veterans themselves, refused to fight the U.S. military and viewed federal intervention as a signal that the rule of law would return. By September 4, miners began laying down their arms en masse, hiding weapons in the woods during their retreat. Casualty estimates vary widely from 20 to 100 total deaths, with at least 20-30 miners confirmed killed and an unknown number of company forces dead, though many wounded on both sides were never officially counted.

Legal Aftermath Crushing Union Strength

The immediate legal consequences were severe and systematic. 985 miners were indicted on charges including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, accessory to murder, and treason against the state of West Virginia. Twenty UMWA District 17 members faced treason charges, with trials moved to Jefferson County 250 miles away to ensure “impartial” juries. Coal company attorneys led the prosecution, with the state later billing companies $125,000 for legal fees.

Bill Blizzard’s treason trial in April-May 1922 became the most significant case, held at the same Jefferson County Courthouse where John Brown had been tried in 1859. His acquittal on May 27, 1922, was seen as vindication that organizing activities did not constitute treason, with the Duluth Herald noting the verdict was “equivalent to a verdict of ‘guilty’ against the state.” Walter Allen was the only miner convicted of treason, sentenced to 10 years but disappearing while on bail. Most defendants were acquitted by sympathetic juries, though some served up to four years in prison, with the last imprisoned miners paroled in 1925.

The impact on organized labor was catastrophic. UMWA membership in West Virginia collapsed from over 50,000 to just 600 by 1929, with the union treasury depleted by massive legal defense costs exceeding $50,000. UMWA organizing efforts in southern West Virginia completely halted until 1933, and District 17 lost its autonomy when John L. Lewis dismissed Frank Keeney and Fred Mooney for their militant leadership.

New Deal Transformation and Lasting Legacy

The battle’s influence on New Deal legislation proved transformative for American labor relations. The violence and suppression at Blair Mountain demonstrated the urgent need for federal labor protections, directly influencing the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 that provided for collective bargaining and the Wagner Act of 1935 that required businesses to bargain in good faith with unions. When these protections passed, Bill Blizzard was brought back to lead organizing efforts, and 92% of the nation’s miners joined UMWA within three months, rushing to join “largely because of the trials, Blair Mountain, and the years of struggle before 1921.”

The historical significance extends far beyond immediate labor victories. As the largest armed uprising since the Civil War and the first use of aerial bombardment against American citizens, Blair Mountain demonstrated both the potential power of unified working-class action and the lengths to which capital and state would collaborate to suppress it. The battle featured remarkable multi-racial solidarity with integrated forces including leaders like Charlie “Popcorn” Gordon and “Red” Thompson, providing lessons for later civil rights organizing.

Modern preservation efforts have finally brought recognition to this deliberately suppressed history. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, controversially removed months later due to coal company pressure, then restored in 2018 after federal court intervention, the battlefield is now protected from surface mining. The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum opened in Matewan in 2015, PBS aired “The Mine Wars” documentary in 2016, and the Blair Mountain Centennial in 2021 featured dozens of commemorative events.

Contemporary Relevance and Historical Memory

The Battle of Blair Mountain’s legacy resonates powerfully in contemporary labor struggles, from the 2018 West Virginia teachers’ strike to the 2021 Alabama Warrior Met miners’ strike. The battlefield archaeology conducted since 2006 has uncovered extensive artifacts confirming the intensity of combat, while oral histories preserved by mining families for decades are finally entering official educational curricula. Academic courses, research programs, and cultural representations including John Sayles’ film “Matewan” and James Green’s definitive history “The Devil Is Here in These Hills” ensure this crucial chapter is no longer hidden from public memory.

The preservation of Blair Mountain as a historic site represents more than commemoration – it stands as a stark reminder of the cost of suppressing workers’ rights to organize and the ongoing struggle for economic justice. The miners’ demand for basic constitutional rights, fair wages, and human dignity in the face of industrial tyranny continues to inform modern debates about worker power, corporate responsibility, and the role of government in protecting labor rights. Their willingness to take up arms against overwhelming odds, while ultimately unsuccessful in immediate terms, helped establish the legal framework that would guarantee American workers the right to organize and bargain collectively, fundamentally transforming the relationship between labor and capital in the United States.

Primary Sources Used

Additional Reference Sources

Blair Mountain – West Virginia Explorer
Battle of Blair Mountain – Global Energy Monitor
Matewan and the Battle of Blair Mountain – Georgetown Labor History Resource Project
West Virginia Coal Mining – Legends of America
The Battle of Blair Mountain – American Postal Workers Union
A Century Ago, Miners Fought in a Bloody Uprising – United Mine Workers of America
Battle of Blair Mountain Ends – Zinn Education Project
The Battle of Blair Mountain: Mine Wars – History is Now Magazine
Bill Blizzard, Blair Mountain & Justice for Miners – Blue Ridge Country
History of West Virginia Coal Industry – West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey