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The Battle of Blair Mountain: The Story of America's Largest Labor Uprising
The Battle of Blair Mountain covers a profoundly significant but long-neglected slice of American history - the largest armed uprising on American soil since the Civil War. In 1921, some 10,000 West Virginia coal miners, outraged over years of brutality and lawless exploitation, picked up their Winchesters and marched against their tormentors, the powerful mine owners who ruled their corrupt state. For ten days the miners fought a pitched battle against an opposing legion of deputies, state police, and makeshift militia. Only the intervention of a federal expeditionary force, spearheaded by a bomber squadron commanded by General Billy Mitchell, ended this undeclared civil war and forced the miners to throw down their arms. The significance of this episode reaches beyond the annals of labor history. Indeed, it is a saga of the conflicting political, economic and cultural forces that shaped the power structure of 20th century America.
296 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
August 11, 2008
After reading Storming Heaven [see my review of that novel] and watching the movie Matewan, I wanted to read a dependable nonfiction account of those events, so that I'd know exactly what actually happened in real life, and verify for myself how closely the fictional versions reflect the truth (the answer to the latter question turns out to be, pretty closely!). Longtime serious journalist (a veteran Washington correspondent) and now Johns Hopkins Univ. academic Shogan provides that account. His relatively new history updates and supersedes Lon Savage's older book, Thunder in the Mountains: The West Virginia Mine War 1920-21 (which is one of the many sources Shogan used in his research) as the definitive record of these events.
The central events recorded here are the shoot-out in Matewan, WV in 1920, precipitated when town authorities and deputized miners tried to arrest a group of Baldwin-Felts "detective agency" gun thugs in the employ of the coal companies for the illegal evictions from company housing of coal miners and their families who had been fired for joining the UMW union (the houses were owned by the coal companies, but by law evictions were supposed to be handled only by the sheriff's office --partly because of the practice, of which Shogan notes instances, of coal company minions deliberately destroying miners' furniture); the subsequent trial and acquittal of Matewan police chief Sid Hatfield and others on a murder charge stemming from this gun battle; the murder by coal company gun thugs of Hatfield and his friend Ed Chambers at Welch WV in 1921, committed on the steps of the county courthouse with the collusion of local law enforcement officials, and the subsequent "acquittal" of the killers even though the county prosecutor characterized the evidence against them as "absolute;" the pitched battle at Blair Mountain later that year, when 10,000 coal miners, marching to the relief of fired coal miners and their families --who, under state martial law, were being subjected to false arrest and whose tent colonies were being violently assaulted by coal company thugs and state police acting as coal company mercenaries-- were met by a "militia" of Baldwin-Felts gang members, Logan County sheriff's deputies openly in the pay of the coal companies, and anti-union townsfolk; and the Federal military intervention which ended the fighting, but then simply restored the status quo. Shogan sets this in the context of the rise of the union movement, in WV and the U.S. as a whole, in the preceding decades, and of the subsequent developments; and explains the continuing relevance of this story for our economy and society today.
Those who demonize unions will, of course, seize upon Shogan's liberal credentials to dismiss this book as slanted propaganda tailored to slander the saintly coal magnates. That judgment, though, would be grossly false; Shogan has a basic sympathy with exploited and brutalized human beings, but his historiography is carefully balanced and tied to the record of attested facts. His research was clearly intense and scrupulous, with a bibliography (pp. 249-254) of both primary and secondary sources, in every medium, bearing on the events. Where accounts conflict, he lets the readers be the judge of their veracity; his treatment of labor heroes like Sid Hatfield and Mother Jones is not an exercise in hagiography; and he doesn't deny or excuse the fact that some union miners engaged in intimidation and sometimes violence against replacement workers (though he sets it in the context, as anti-union propaganda does not, of a regime that itself made no pretense of refraining from violence or of respecting the rule of law or the property rights of the poor). What he does deliver is a clear, jargon-free account of attested facts, in a lively style that could serve as a beneficial model for much of the academic history written today. (While he doesn't employ documentary footnotes, he has about 19 pages of endnotes, arranged by chapter and page number, giving the source material for specific statements.) And the facts speak for themselves --the miners were the victims of unspeakable, criminal abuse that makes a mockery of American democratic ideals and Christian social ethics.
A lot more could be written here, but this will suffice. In short, this is a must-read account of a too-little known chapter of American history, which continues to resonate in the present. I would recommend it to every reader in America!
The central events recorded here are the shoot-out in Matewan, WV in 1920, precipitated when town authorities and deputized miners tried to arrest a group of Baldwin-Felts "detective agency" gun thugs in the employ of the coal companies for the illegal evictions from company housing of coal miners and their families who had been fired for joining the UMW union (the houses were owned by the coal companies, but by law evictions were supposed to be handled only by the sheriff's office --partly because of the practice, of which Shogan notes instances, of coal company minions deliberately destroying miners' furniture); the subsequent trial and acquittal of Matewan police chief Sid Hatfield and others on a murder charge stemming from this gun battle; the murder by coal company gun thugs of Hatfield and his friend Ed Chambers at Welch WV in 1921, committed on the steps of the county courthouse with the collusion of local law enforcement officials, and the subsequent "acquittal" of the killers even though the county prosecutor characterized the evidence against them as "absolute;" the pitched battle at Blair Mountain later that year, when 10,000 coal miners, marching to the relief of fired coal miners and their families --who, under state martial law, were being subjected to false arrest and whose tent colonies were being violently assaulted by coal company thugs and state police acting as coal company mercenaries-- were met by a "militia" of Baldwin-Felts gang members, Logan County sheriff's deputies openly in the pay of the coal companies, and anti-union townsfolk; and the Federal military intervention which ended the fighting, but then simply restored the status quo. Shogan sets this in the context of the rise of the union movement, in WV and the U.S. as a whole, in the preceding decades, and of the subsequent developments; and explains the continuing relevance of this story for our economy and society today.
Those who demonize unions will, of course, seize upon Shogan's liberal credentials to dismiss this book as slanted propaganda tailored to slander the saintly coal magnates. That judgment, though, would be grossly false; Shogan has a basic sympathy with exploited and brutalized human beings, but his historiography is carefully balanced and tied to the record of attested facts. His research was clearly intense and scrupulous, with a bibliography (pp. 249-254) of both primary and secondary sources, in every medium, bearing on the events. Where accounts conflict, he lets the readers be the judge of their veracity; his treatment of labor heroes like Sid Hatfield and Mother Jones is not an exercise in hagiography; and he doesn't deny or excuse the fact that some union miners engaged in intimidation and sometimes violence against replacement workers (though he sets it in the context, as anti-union propaganda does not, of a regime that itself made no pretense of refraining from violence or of respecting the rule of law or the property rights of the poor). What he does deliver is a clear, jargon-free account of attested facts, in a lively style that could serve as a beneficial model for much of the academic history written today. (While he doesn't employ documentary footnotes, he has about 19 pages of endnotes, arranged by chapter and page number, giving the source material for specific statements.) And the facts speak for themselves --the miners were the victims of unspeakable, criminal abuse that makes a mockery of American democratic ideals and Christian social ethics.
A lot more could be written here, but this will suffice. In short, this is a must-read account of a too-little known chapter of American history, which continues to resonate in the present. I would recommend it to every reader in America!
December 21, 2018
This was a good microhistory of labor and coal mining in West Virginia. If you're one of my left-leaning friends and you're not familiar with the badass labor movement that existed in the 1920s in the state where I was born, I would strongly recommend this book and others about Blair Mountain and other similar events, as well as key personalities and locations. It's a fascinating, inspiring, heartbreaking history of labor and class in the US, and even though I grew up right next to it, I didn't know much at all about it, not in any depth, until I was an adult, and when I began learning about it, both the incredible grassroots organization and the sheer violence of it all jarred me and made me wonder how I'd never learned about it before. Read about it.
May 13, 2021
I was interested more in the historical accounts of these turbulent years in the mine wars than I was in the author's thoughts on labor. As an outsider to WV, I have wondered about this era of American history that wasn't even touched on in my schooling. It has stimulated my interest in knowing more about WV history, and especially how outside business money has shaped the political and economic landscape. It also confirms my thoughts that West Virginians are widely misunderstood by historians and the media. Cursory prejudicial thoughts without deep knowledge and understanding has been the norm in looking at West Virginians and Appalachians.
February 14, 2023
An outstanding and engaging look at America's largest labor uprising.
It is both enraging and depressing to know how little has changed. Money talks, workers die.
It is both enraging and depressing to know how little has changed. Money talks, workers die.
November 11, 2025
Corporations Try Not To Be Evil Challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)
Very powerful book that not only discusses the Battle of Blair Mountain, but meticulously details everything that led to it - from growing unrest to government & private overreach. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in labor/unionism, coal mining, and/or rednecks.
My only complaint was that with the sheer amount of names and events that played a role in the labor uprising, I wish there had been a more easy-to-follow method for summary, like a timeline or a glossary of persons. Otherwise, this book is incredibly well-researched and is exhaustive (in a good way) in its description in one of the most important periods in the history of Amercian labor.
Very powerful book that not only discusses the Battle of Blair Mountain, but meticulously details everything that led to it - from growing unrest to government & private overreach. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in labor/unionism, coal mining, and/or rednecks.
My only complaint was that with the sheer amount of names and events that played a role in the labor uprising, I wish there had been a more easy-to-follow method for summary, like a timeline or a glossary of persons. Otherwise, this book is incredibly well-researched and is exhaustive (in a good way) in its description in one of the most important periods in the history of Amercian labor.
October 25, 2025
I jumped into this book with almost zero knowledge of coal country and labor - I think Ms. Maddox tangentially mentioned Eugene Debs in American History class. As such, this book was dense and was fast paced, so there are parts I may need to reread/dig deeper into. However, this book is so important to understanding our past and, I would guess even understanding a piece of Appalachia. Completely insane this happened around 100 years ago, and that I’ve hardly heard of it before. Shogan’s ending analysis was brilliant, clearly limiting the scope of the miners discontent to the operators, not the country. I believe this nuance could easily be missed by readers had it not been explicitly stated, making claims (at the time of the battle and even now) of union “Bolshevik” leadership even more absurd. A read every history lover should have on their shelf.
October 3, 2023
The topic of this book is truly important and fascinating to read about. The sheer level of manipulation taking place at the hands of the coal operators and the ineptitude of the West Virginia government is staggering to read about, yet not terribly surprising.
My gripe with this book is that the writing is somewhat messy and as a fan of in-text citations, it lacked those.
My gripe with this book is that the writing is somewhat messy and as a fan of in-text citations, it lacked those.
February 11, 2024
3. Very short just full of facts and not much of a story.
April 15, 2008
A year and a half of ambushes against cops and hired guns, a jury willing to acquit their fellow rabble despite evidence against them and one of the largest armed insurrections in US history - amazing. I wish Shogan had concentrated a little less on Hatfield and talked more from the perspective of the miners, but I did appreciate how they had a steady background vigilance of shoot-outs and dynamitings. I also thought it was interesting that a lot of the miners only did it as seasonal work, and so had a unique connection to the work. They also seem to be aware of their biggest pitfalls, and where they went wrong.
Try reading more from the perspective of people trying to take back some control of their lives and not so much a labor history.
Don't read the last couple of pages, Shogan's conclusions might spoil the awesomeness of the miners and what they tried to do.
4.1
Try reading more from the perspective of people trying to take back some control of their lives and not so much a labor history.
Don't read the last couple of pages, Shogan's conclusions might spoil the awesomeness of the miners and what they tried to do.
4.1
February 1, 2016
After seeing a documentary about Blair Mtn, I was curious to read more. This book was difficult to sift through, but I was determined to do it. (My husband read it also and felt the same way.) It is the story of what was supposed to be America's largest labor uprising, set in the early 1900's in West Virginia. There were so many characters, and the time line kept switching, but the author included both economic and political background that led up to the actual event. After finally finishing the book, I can understand his point. So much contributed to the climate of unrest in that region prior to the uprising. I wonder how much has actually changed in 100 years and if what those people did and still do today truly affect unions of our time.
August 11, 2021
This book turns a very interesting and important part of US history into a sense and interminable slog.
So focused on the minutiae that it constantly loses the plot. Paragraphs bounce around in time so much that it’s difficult to know what happened when. Literally everyone involved is a Hatfield.
The battle itself takes up about 10 pages in the last 30 of the book.
Sadly not what I was looking for
So focused on the minutiae that it constantly loses the plot. Paragraphs bounce around in time so much that it’s difficult to know what happened when. Literally everyone involved is a Hatfield.
The battle itself takes up about 10 pages in the last 30 of the book.
Sadly not what I was looking for
November 6, 2019
Part of my personal heritage includes these coal miners, so the topic was of great interest to me. But anyone can learn about the people who live in an area of the country that gets a lot of flack. The author goes to great pains to cover both sides of the story. Lots of sore feelings for generations on both sides of the issues discussed in this book, so I'm grateful for the author's approach.
January 15, 2018
It is easy to forget how hard fought labor's progress was in America. I love reading about the labor movement, though it is depressing when you consider how much those sacrifices have been reversed in the last several decades. Here's the author's summing up of Blair Mountain, the largest labor uprising in our country's history, which speaks to some of the unique limitations that labor in the U.S. seems to face:
"In sum, both the aftermath of the miners' march in West Virginia and the auto workers' sit-downs in Michigan served to remind trade unions that in the land of the free, working-class gains can be made only by playing by middle-class rules, rules that demand respect for property and profit. But the larger truth is that these rules are generally accepted by workers, with the qualification that they were understood to be part of a larger compact with their country governing their rights as citizens of the United States. It was this compact, with its balance of responsibilities and protections, requiring the respect for law and property in return for fair treatment and equal opportunity, including the right to organize, which had been betrayed by the coal operators of West Virginia and the auto makers of Michigan. The mine workers' allegiance to this compact not only inspired the great armed uprising in the West Virginia coalfields but also restricted it and contributed to its failure.
"No sooner had the armed miners begun their ill-fated march on Blair Mountain in the violent summer of 1920 than apparatchiks of the newly formed Communist Party of the United States sprang into action, grinding out leaflets with a call to arms. 'Help your struggling brothers in the mines of West Virginia,' the broadsides urged. 'To your task! All as one in the name of working class solidarity! The miners' fight for a union must be made the fight of all organized labor and all workers of America.'
"It was easy to understand why the Communists had been galvanized. Every day front-page headlines in newspapers across the country shouted the astonishing story of this huge uprising, on a scale that dwarfed other insurrections. Class warfare in America, long only a metaphor and daydream for Marxists had at last been transformed into reality, etched in blood and bullets. The time had come for American workers to rush to the barricades.
"Or so it seemed. But only for an instant in history.
"Then suddenly, before the ink had hardly dried on the Communist summons to the barricades, the revolution was over. It was not crushed; rather it simply expired. Once the Federal troops arrived, the miners laid down their arms, without a shot being fired in anger. It was not only the strength of the Federal intervention but what it represented that sapped the fervor and the fury from the rebels. 'We wouldn't revolt against the national guv-ment,' one miner told General Bandholtz when he arrived in strife-torn West Virginia."
"In sum, both the aftermath of the miners' march in West Virginia and the auto workers' sit-downs in Michigan served to remind trade unions that in the land of the free, working-class gains can be made only by playing by middle-class rules, rules that demand respect for property and profit. But the larger truth is that these rules are generally accepted by workers, with the qualification that they were understood to be part of a larger compact with their country governing their rights as citizens of the United States. It was this compact, with its balance of responsibilities and protections, requiring the respect for law and property in return for fair treatment and equal opportunity, including the right to organize, which had been betrayed by the coal operators of West Virginia and the auto makers of Michigan. The mine workers' allegiance to this compact not only inspired the great armed uprising in the West Virginia coalfields but also restricted it and contributed to its failure.
"No sooner had the armed miners begun their ill-fated march on Blair Mountain in the violent summer of 1920 than apparatchiks of the newly formed Communist Party of the United States sprang into action, grinding out leaflets with a call to arms. 'Help your struggling brothers in the mines of West Virginia,' the broadsides urged. 'To your task! All as one in the name of working class solidarity! The miners' fight for a union must be made the fight of all organized labor and all workers of America.'
"It was easy to understand why the Communists had been galvanized. Every day front-page headlines in newspapers across the country shouted the astonishing story of this huge uprising, on a scale that dwarfed other insurrections. Class warfare in America, long only a metaphor and daydream for Marxists had at last been transformed into reality, etched in blood and bullets. The time had come for American workers to rush to the barricades.
"Or so it seemed. But only for an instant in history.
"Then suddenly, before the ink had hardly dried on the Communist summons to the barricades, the revolution was over. It was not crushed; rather it simply expired. Once the Federal troops arrived, the miners laid down their arms, without a shot being fired in anger. It was not only the strength of the Federal intervention but what it represented that sapped the fervor and the fury from the rebels. 'We wouldn't revolt against the national guv-ment,' one miner told General Bandholtz when he arrived in strife-torn West Virginia."
December 31, 2024
Unsurprisingly American schools don't want to acknowledge the history of labor struggles (don't want anyone to get any ideas!) so this miner uprising in West Virginia is a very unknown part of our history. This conflict featured machine guns, armored trains and even planes which is wild to think about given how unknown it is.
Definitely recommend this book- also recommend the Behind the Bastards episodes on Blair Mountain as a good supplement (or in lieu of since I know folks only have so many hours in the day- this book is one of the major references)
"But if much has changed, much remains the same. With all the gains made under the New Deal reforms, workers in post-industrial America have not come close to keeping pace with soaring corporate profits while the maldistribution of wealth accelerates. In the 21st century, as in the 20th, labor's leaders are still on the defensive battling to forestall further losses of political power and protections for their members. The bosses still hold all the high cards."
Oh 2004 Robert Shogun, just wait until Citizens United and all it has wrought :(
Definitely recommend this book- also recommend the Behind the Bastards episodes on Blair Mountain as a good supplement (or in lieu of since I know folks only have so many hours in the day- this book is one of the major references)
"But if much has changed, much remains the same. With all the gains made under the New Deal reforms, workers in post-industrial America have not come close to keeping pace with soaring corporate profits while the maldistribution of wealth accelerates. In the 21st century, as in the 20th, labor's leaders are still on the defensive battling to forestall further losses of political power and protections for their members. The bosses still hold all the high cards."
Oh 2004 Robert Shogun, just wait until Citizens United and all it has wrought :(
January 10, 2025
An intriguing, and thoughtful work on the miner uprising in the coal fields of West Virginia in the early 1920s. Shogan did a great job of researching and documenting this nonfiction book. Activists like Mother Jones, Fred Sweeney and Frank Keeney are covered. As well as the police chief of Matewan, Sid Hatfield, who kicked off the demonstrations and battles for union organizing. In the Matewan Massacre, Hatfield and some towns people shot it out with Baldwin-Felts Detectives, who were hired gunmen by the coal operators. Sid was later assassinated on the steps of a court house by thugs paid by the coal barons. This triggered an armed march on Logan by union sympathizers. The group has been estimated as high as 20,000 men. Sheriff Don Chafin and his men numbered roughly the same. Chafin was on the operators payroll. Ultimately, President Harding sent in the Army to quell the violence, and the miners retired to their homes. A fine book on American history and the labor movement.
December 14, 2018
Why?
I was drinking some stout beers a couple of years at a local brewery (it was stout month after all) and spoke to a fellow teachers about favorite books, and this is what he picked.
What did I think?
Not my style of history. This was straight up narration and read as though a journalist wrote this. Not that this is a bad thing, but I wish more broad context were provided, and more depth was provided for some of the historical figures. I was glad to learn about this, and was glad to see some heavyweights in labor history make appearances throughout this telling.
I was drinking some stout beers a couple of years at a local brewery (it was stout month after all) and spoke to a fellow teachers about favorite books, and this is what he picked.
What did I think?
Not my style of history. This was straight up narration and read as though a journalist wrote this. Not that this is a bad thing, but I wish more broad context were provided, and more depth was provided for some of the historical figures. I was glad to learn about this, and was glad to see some heavyweights in labor history make appearances throughout this telling.
November 18, 2020
Was recommended to read this by a friend when I was talking about World War 1. I found this to overall be an informative book about something I knew nothing about. There will occasionally be names that I know, and get excited when I see them interact with the events. The book is written narratively (which I love), but is dry in some places. Almost everything has detail, and you easily envision yourself in some scenes. This book does a good job breaking down the mindset of almost everyone involved.
April 18, 2022
It took me a while to read this because a bunch of life stuff happened that distracted me from but I’m very glad I came back and finished it. I don’t read a lot of non fiction but this was a very good book covering the Battle of Blair Mountain and the lead up to it.
It’s fairly short and I’m sure much more can and has been written about it but this was a great and well sourced kinda primer to it all. America’s Labor struggles are just as relevant today in 2022 as they were in the early 2000s when this book was written, and of course in the 1920s.
History repeats itself and all that.
It’s fairly short and I’m sure much more can and has been written about it but this was a great and well sourced kinda primer to it all. America’s Labor struggles are just as relevant today in 2022 as they were in the early 2000s when this book was written, and of course in the 1920s.
History repeats itself and all that.
December 5, 2016
I wanted to learn more about this battle and especially about the significance of the federal and local government response to the insurrection - the largest since the Civil War - but for the general reader it is probably too focused on chronology and detail of the lead up to the battle. A separate conclusion chapter would have helped clarify the context and implications, I think. It's still an incredible event of history that should be more discussed in school, IMO.
February 6, 2021
Insightful history on this popular event. Indulges in romanticism but allows a clear-eyed view on the failed legacy of the thing. My one problem is the clear court-record/newspaper source material undergirds a lot of the book, providing effective information but not a lot of color or character. Sid Hatfield, the labor side's martyr, is given considerable focus as a person while the rest of the miners are reduced to nameless, facelessness that leaves more to be desired.
May 25, 2022
The Matewan Massacre and subsequent Battle of Blair Mountain are fascinating, although suppressed, parts of American history. Robert Shogan has written a very comprehensive account of the events leading up to the Battle. I do feel like the accounts of the actual battle and the aftermath were somewhat abbreviated compared to what I have read elsewhere. Overall, a very interesting and easily digestible read.
October 10, 2019
Not an easy read. Too many Hatfields in the hills of West Virginia. I also really dislike histories that mention places without having them on included maps. Many names were mentioned without resolution of them by the end of the book. But no matter what the United Mine Workers were totally defeated, the coal companies still have not surrendered to state supervision.
March 2, 2019
Loved this book. I gave 4 stars because the reading was very dense with details that were hard to keep up with. I appreciate those details though as it lays out how the miners were pushed back not only by the owners but also by their own government. Sad
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2022
Fascinating bit of history that I’d never heard of. At time the narrative was dry and almost too focused on including as many facts and historical references as possible, but the overarching story was interesting.
June 2, 2017
largest armed uprising since the Civil War.
July 9, 2020
Very interesting.
July 14, 2022
Very informative! Was a little hard to read because I don’t do very much historical works. But I enjoyed learning more about my states history!
August 30, 2024
Well researched, easy to read of a slice of West Virginia history, but Shogan's conclusion linking the suppression of exploited coal miners to 911 left me scratching my head.
January 8, 2025
A detailed look at the full scope of events for this pivotal moment in history. A very poignant summarization at the end of how these event relate to today.
November 8, 2017
Pretty decent book. I would have liked to learn more, but I have a feeling that Shogan found as much of the story to tell as he could. Either way, a very important story in the history of Labor.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews