September 1, 1921: Federal Troops and Aviation Called to Quell Uprising
Most of the national news coverage of the Battle of Blair Mountain happened in the latter days of the conflict when federal troops were called in. The president's response to the conflict drew the nation's attention to the Appalachian coal fields. Never before had federal troops been called against fellow US citizens.
Below is a quotation details the actions of the federal commanders and troops once they decended into the mountains of West Virginia.
“On August 25, Secretary Weeks, with the approval of President Harding, sent Brigadier General Henry H. Bandholtz, Commander of the Military District of Washington and former Provost Marshal for the American Expeditionary Force in France, to investigate the West Virginia situation. The fifty-six year old general carried with him a mandate to determine whether the use of federal troops was necessary or the mere threat to use federal military force would suffice in restoring order… General Bandholtz informed Governor Morgan, and later the two union leaders, that he was indifferent to the merits of the dispute between miners and coal operators, but was concerned only with the president's directive to restore law and order without delay and preferably without bloodshed. During his meeting with Bandholtz, Morgan claimed that the southern counties were at the mercy of an army of rabble, and insisted that army intervention alone would prevent loss of life and destruction of property. (Laurie, 1991)"