The Battle of Matewan (also known as the Matewan massacre) was a
shootout in the town of
Matewan in
Mingo County and the
Pocahontas Coalfield
Pocahontas Coalfield, which is also known as the Flat Top-Pocahontas Coalfield, is located in Mercer County/ McDowell County, West Virginia and Tazewell County, Virginia. The earliest mining of coal in the coalfield was in Pocahontas, Virginia ...
mining district, in southern
West Virginia. It occurred on May 19, 1920 between local
coal miner
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
s and their allies and the
Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency. The dead included two brothers of the detective agency's founder and Matewan's mayor Cabell Testerman, who supported the union.
History
Employed by the Stone Mountain Coal Company, a contingent of the Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency arrived on the No. 29 morning train to evict families that had been living at the Stone Mountain Coal Camp just on the outskirts of town. The detectives carried out several evictions before they ate dinner at the Urias Hotel and, upon finishing, they walked toward the train depot to catch the five o'clock train back to
Bluefield, West Virginia
Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 9,658 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Bluefield WV- VA micropolitan area, which had a population of 106,363 in 2020.
Geography
Bluefie ...
. While the detectives made their way to the train depot, they were intercepted by Matewan Chief of Police
Sid Hatfield, who claimed to have arrest warrants from the
Mingo County sheriff. Hatfield, a native of the
Tug River
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...
Valley, was a supporter of the miners' attempts to organize the
UMWA
The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American Labor history of the United States, labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing worke ...
in the southern coalfields of West Virginia. Detective Albert Felts and his brother Lee Felts then produced their own warrant for Sid Hatfield's arrest. Upon inspection, Matewan mayor Cabell Testerman claimed it was fraudulent.
Unbeknownst to the detectives, they had been surrounded by armed miners, who watched intently from the windows, doorways, and roofs of the businesses that lined Mate Street. Stories vary as to who actually fired the first shot. On the porch of the Chambers Hardware Store began the clash that became known as the Matewan massacre, or the Battle of Matewan. The ensuing gun battle left seven detectives and three townspeople dead, including the Felts brothers and Testerman. The battle was hailed by miners and their supporters for the number of casualties inflicted on the Baldwin–Felts detectives. This tragedy, along with events such as the
Ludlow Massacre in
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
six years earlier, marked an important turning point in the battle for miners' rights.
Coal miners
At the time, the
United Mine Workers of America
The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...
had just elected
John L. Lewis as their president. During this period, miners worked long hours in unsafe and dismal working conditions, while being paid low wages. Adding to the hardship was the use of
coal scrip
Company scrip is scrip (a substitute for government-issued legal tender or currency) issued by a company to pay its employees. It can only be exchanged in company stores owned by the employers.
In the United Kingdom, such truck systems have lon ...
by the Stone Mountain Coal Company, because the scrip could only be used for those goods the company sold through their
company stores. A few months before the battle at Matewan, union miners in other parts of the country went on strike, receiving a full 27 percent pay increase for their efforts. Lewis recognized that the area was ripe for change, and planned to organize the coal fields of southern
Appalachia
Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, C ...
. The union sent its top organizers, including the famous
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones
Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...
. Roughly 3000 men signed the union's roster in the Spring of 1920. They signed their union cards at the community church, something that they knew could cost them their jobs, and in many cases their homes. The coal companies controlled many aspects of the miners' lives. Stone Mountain Coal Corporation fought back with mass firings, harassment, and evictions.
Town of Matewan
Matewan, founded in 1895, was a small independent town with only a few elected officials. The mayor at the time was Cabell Testerman, and the chief of police was
Sid Hatfield. Both refused to succumb to the company's plans, and sided with the miners. In turn, the Stone Mountain Coal Corporation hired their own enforcers, the
Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency, dubbed the "Baldwin Thugs" by the miners. The coal operators hired them to evict the miners and their families from the company owned houses. As a result, hundreds of miner families spent the spring of 1920 in tents. The assemblage of tents was known as Stony Mountain Camp Tent Colony.
Battle
On the day of the fight, a group of the Baldwin–Felts enforcers arrived to evict families living at the mountain coal camp, just outside Matewan. The sheriff and his deputy, Fred Burgraff, sensed trouble and met the Baldwin–Felts detectives at the train station. News of the evictions soon spread around the town. When Sid Hatfield approached Felts, Felts served a warrant on Hatfield, which had been issued by Squire R. M. Stafford, a Justice of the Peace of Magnolia District, Mingo County, West Virginia, for the arrest of Hatfield, Bas Ball, Tony Webb and others, which warrant was directed to Albert C. Felts for execution. Burgraff's son reported that the detectives had sub-machine guns with them in their suitcases. Hatfield, Burgraff, and Mayor Cabell Testerman met with the detectives on the porch of the Chambers Hardware Store. It is still unknown whether it was Hatfield or the leading detective,
Albert Felts, who shot Testerman first, though what followed was Hatfield shooting Felts. Later Thomas Felts (brother of Albert and Lee Felts who died in the battle) and the Baldwin–Felts spy Charles Lively spread rumors that Sid shot Testerman because he had feelings for his wife. The rumors were never confirmed, although Sid did marry her only twelve days after Testerman's death, the day after the two of them were arrested in a hotel room and charged with "improper relations." After the detective and mayor fell wounded, Sid kept firing, but Felts escaped. He took shelter in the Matewan Post Office, and Hatfield eventually found him there and shot him. When the shooting finally stopped, the townspeople came out, many wounded. There were casualties on both sides. Seven Baldwin–Felts detectives were killed, including Albert and Lee Felts. One more detective had been wounded. Two miners were killed: Bob Mullins, who had just been fired for joining the union, and Tot Tinsley, an unarmed bystander. The wounded mayor was dying, and four other bystanders had been wounded.
Aftermath
Governor
John J. Cornwell ordered the state police force to take control of Matewan. Hatfield and his men cooperated, and stacked their arms inside the hardware store. The miners, encouraged by their success in getting the Baldwin–Felts detectives out of Matewan, improved their efforts to organize.
On July 1 the miners' union went on another strike, and widespread violence erupted. Railroad cars were blown up, and strikers were beaten and left to die by the side of the road.
After the battle, President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
was eager to send in the National Guard.
The violence was so bad that martial law had to be put into place and federal troops had to get involved.
The trial for the miners who killed the seven agents started January 26, 1921, and ended March 19, 1921, with all defendants being acquitted of all charges.
Tom Felts, the last remaining Felts brother, sent undercover operatives to collect evidence to convict Sid Hatfield and his men. When the charges against Hatfield and 22 others for the murder of Albert Felts were dismissed, Baldwin–Felts detectives assassinated Hatfield and his deputy Ed Chambers on August 1, 1921, on the steps of the
McDowell County courthouse located in
Welch, West Virginia. Of those defendants whose charges were not dismissed, all were acquitted.
Less than a month later, miners from the state gathered in
Charleston. They were even more determined to organize the southern coal fields, and began the march to
Logan County. Thousands of miners joined them along the way, culminating in what was to become known as the
Battle of Blair Mountain
The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest labor uprising in United States history and 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-2 ...
.
The headquarters of the Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency was the Urias hotel and was destroyed in a fire in December 1992.
The
Matewan Historic District
The Matewan Historic District encompasses the town center of the rural coal mining community of Matewan, West Virginia. Matewan was the scene of the Battle of Matewan on May 19, 1920, during a coal miners' strike, an event which led to the Battl ...
was added to the
National Register of Historic Places on April 27, 1993.
Conspiracy theory
Some people believe that Sid Hatfield fired that first shot that killed Mayor Testerman because he was in love with the mayor's wife Jessie. The belief was strengthened when Sid and Jessie were married twelve days after the May 19 shootout. Below is a 1989 conversation between historian John Hennen of the Matewan Development Center Oral History project and Dixie Accord, who grew up in Matewan, regarding the possibility that Sid Hatfield could have shot Mayor Testerman.
Historic interpretations
The Matewan massacre is interpreted by the State of
West Virginia through a Historic Highway marker produced by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. It is located off Main Street in Matewan.
The marker reads:
MATEWAN MASSACRE. In 1920 area miners went on strike to gain recognition of UMWA. On May 19 of the same year, twelve Baldwin–Felts Agency guards came from Bluefield to evict the miners from company houses. As guards left town, they argued with town police chief Sid Hatfield and Mayor Testerman. Shooting of undetermined origins resulted in the deaths of two coal miners, seven agents, and the mayor. None of the 19 men indicted were convicted.
In media
* The battle was the subject of the 1987
John Sayles
John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for '' Passion Fish'' (1992) and ' ...
film ''
Matewan''.
*Sid Hatfield was featured in ''Smilin' Sid'' which was a silent movie that portrayed Sid Hatfield as a hero and was shown in union mining camps.
* ''
Terror of the Tug'', a 2000 play by
Jean Battlo, covers the violent events that occurred directly afterward.
* The battle features in Glenn Taylor's 2008 novel ''The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart''. In the book, it is Trenchmouth Taggart that shoots Al Felts when Felts draws a gun to shoot Sid Hatfield. Felts then accidentally shoots Mayor Testerman. Trenchmouth also shoots and kills Lee Felts.
* The battle receives prominent mention in
Eric Flint
Eric Flint (February 6, 1947 – July 17, 2022) was an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works are alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed ...
's science fiction novel "1632," the starting point of his
Ring of Fire (series).
See also
*
Coal Wars
The Coal Wars were a series of armed labor conflicts in the United States, roughly between 1890 and 1930. Although they occurred mainly in the East, particularly in Appalachia, there was a significant amount of violence in Colorado after the tur ...
*
Coal mining in Appalachia
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...
*
Union violence Union violence is violence committed by unions or union members during labor disputes. When union violence has occurred, it has frequently been in the context of industrial unrest. Violence has ranged from isolated acts by individuals to wider camp ...
*
Labor spying in the United States
Labor spying in the United States had involved people recruited or employed for the purpose of gathering intelligence, committing sabotage, sowing dissent, or engaging in other similar activities, in the context of an employer/labor organization r ...
*
List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
Listed are major episodes of civil unrest in the United States. This list does not include the numerous incidents of destruction and violence associated with various sporting events.
18th century
*1783 – Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, June 20. ...
*
List of worker deaths in United States labor disputes
The following list of worker deaths in United States labor disputes captures known incidents of fatal labor-related violence in U.S. labor history, which began in the colonial era with the earliest worker demands around 1636 for better working co ...
Notes
References
* Bailey, Rebecca (2008). Matewan before the Massacre: Politics, Coal, and the Roots of Conflict in a West Virginia Mining Community. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press.
Official Matewan, WV Websiteat Matewan.com
Police Chief Hatfield's memorial West Virginia Division of Culture and History
* State of West Virginia (2002). Marking Our Past: West Virginia's Historical Highway Markers. Charleston: West Virginia Division of Culture and History.
West Virginia Mine Wars Museumindependent history museum covering the Mine Wars Era in Matewan, WV.
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Matewan
Coal Wars
Pocahontas Coalfield
Coal mining in Appalachia
Labor disputes in West Virginia
Mingo County, West Virginia
1920 in West Virginia
1920 labor disputes and strikes
Labor-related violence in the United States
May 1920 events