The Battle of Matewan (1920)

Wed May 19, 1920

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Image: An old photograph of Matewan, unknown year. From Tony Santon [wvencyclopedia.org]

On this day in 1920, Baldwin-Felts agents were met with armed resistance from local miners after serving eviction notices in Matewan, West Virginia, leading to the “Battle of Matewan”, in which seven of the agents were killed.

The Baldwin-Felts agents had arrived that morning to evict several families from their company homes. When the agents attempted to leave town that evening, they were stopped by Matewan Police Chief Sid Hatfield, who claimed to have arrest warrants from the county sheriff.

The agents then produced their own warrant for Sid Hatfield’s arrest, however the Matewan Mayor Cabell Testerman declared it fake upon inspection. While this discussion was happening, the group was quietly surrounded by armed miners, who were watching while hidden in buildings along the street.

Gunfire broke out (it is unknown which group fired first), and ten people were killed in the subsequent fighting. Seven of the agents and the Mayor Cabell were killed. Hatfield, however, survived and was immediately regarded as a hero by the coal miners.

Hatfield was later assassinated while standing trial for murder by other Baldwin-Felts agents, who successfully claimed self-defense, despite the fact he was unarmed while gunned down on the courthouse steps.

The incident inflamed tensions between either side. Six months after Hatfield’s assassination, the Battle of Blair Mountain took place when more than 10,000 miners took up arms against the state.