MCDOWELL COUNTY, W.Va. (WOAY) – May marks the anniversary of two of the most defining, but often overlooked, battles in American labor history: the Matewan Massacre and the Battle of the Tug. Both took place in Mingo County, West Virginia, and both helped ignite the larger war for miners’ rights in the coalfields of Appalachia.
Known collectively as the Mine Wars, these violent labor uprisings were the result of decades of exploitation. Miners were paid in scrip, tokens only good at company stores. They lived in company houses, sent their kids to company schools, and were watched by company guards.
After years of grueling work and poor living conditions, miners began to unionize, fueling the beginning of the mine wars.
“The Mine Wars came around as a result of the United Mine Workers trying to unionize the coal companies at the time,” Jay Chatman, President of the McDowell County Historical Society and member of the National Coal Heritage Board, said.
Matewan Massacre
In 1920, the small coal town of Matewan became the scene of a dramatic showdown in the mine wars. When Baldwin-Felts agents arrived to evict unionizing miners and their families, local Police Chief Sid Hatfield stood his ground.
“They were hired to come into the communities like Paint Creek, Cabin Creek, Matewan, and to stop the union. What they did was they would scare the miners, they would be on corners and all carried guns, and a lot of it led to shootings and stuff,” Chatman said.
A shootout broke out in broad daylight. Ten men were killed, including two Baldwin-Felts agents and Matewan’s mayor, Cable Testerman. The gunfire that rang out that day would spark national headlines and light a fuse that had been smoldering for years.
The miners did not surrender, they fought until the Baldwin-Felt agents, who had come to evict miners, had either fled or had died, and by 1920, over 90% of miners in Mingo County had pledged their oath to the union.
The Matewan Massacre led to a trial where those involved, including Sid Hatfield, were acquitted of any charges, boosting morale for miners in southern West Virginia.
Although morale was high, the following year brought new troubles for miners, many of whom alleged that company-owned scales, used to weigh the coal they mined and determine their pay, were rigged to cheat them out of wages.
Battle of the Tug
In May 1921, the hills of Mingo County erupted into open conflict.
From May 12 to May 15, union miners clashed with coal company forces in what became known as the Battle of the Tug, or the Three Days Battle. Tensions had been building for over a year. As miners joined the United Mine Workers of America, coal operators responded by firing them, evicting their families from company homes, and replacing them with nonunion labor.
Union miners fired shots from the ridges onto a dozen mining towns in the Matewan–Williamson area. Deputy sheriffs, private guards, state police, and even Kentucky National Guardsmen joined the firefight.
The result was one of the bloodiest battles in the mine wars, and when the dust cleared, at least 30-40 people lay dead.
The battle came to an end on May 15, when a physician risked his life by crawling under gunfire through the mountains to help the West Virginia State Police broker a truce with the miners. In the aftermath, the state imposed martial law.
“It was a two or three-day battle down towards Mingo County,” said Jay Chapman. “But you don’t hear much about that. There’s not that much written on it.”
Governor Ephraim Morgan called for federal troops to intervene. President Harding initially refused. But just weeks later, that request would be renewed, this time would lead to the largest armed labor uprising in U.S. history: the Battle of Blair Mountain.
Echoes from the Coalfields
By 1930, the union movement had gained ground, and mining and living conditions began to improve.
“By 1930, the Baldwin Felts kind of went away, because once the union was in, there was no need for them, so they kind of went by the wayside,” Chatman said.
Though the cost to get there was not forgotten: lives lost, families torn apart, and communities forever changed.
Today, the hills of southern West Virginia still carry those echoes. And red bandanas remain a symbol of the bravery and courage these miners embodied, plus a reminder that quality of life is always worth the fight.
