ONE LAST THING THE ARMY ARRIVES
By Sept . 1 , 1921 , during the Battle of Blair Mountain , miners had captured half of the 25-mile mountain ridge and were ready to descend upon Logan . President Warren Harding placed the strike zone under martial law and ordered federal troops , pictured above , and a squadron of bomber aircraft into the state . The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest labor uprising in United States history and is the largest armed uprising since the American Civil War . The conflict occurred in Logan County , West Virginia , as part of the Coal Wars , a series of early-20th-century labor disputes in Appalachia .
For five days from late August to early September 1921 , some 10,000 armed coal miners confronted 3,000 lawmen and strikebreakers ( called the Logan Defenders ) who were backed by coal mine operators during the miners ’ attempt to unionize the southwestern West Virginia coalfields when tensions rose between workers and mine management . The battle ended after approximately one million rounds were fired , and the United States Army , represented by the West Virginia Army National Guard led by McDowell County native William Eubanks , intervened by presidential order .
Photo courtesy of The West Virginia Encyclopedia at www . wvencyclopedia . org
SOUTH � SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER ’ 24 � 43