US REGULARS ORDERED TO DISARM & DISPERSE MINER'S ARMY & VOLUNTEER OPPOSITION FORCE
St. Albans*, West Virginia (JFK+50) On the evening of September 2, 1921, "United States regulars marched into the West Virginia coal fields" after arriving on troop trains from Ohio and Kentucky.
They came "to stamp out the insurrection in (West Virginia) seeking contact with the miner's army of 6000 which is battling the state police, deputy sheriffs and volunteers."
Orders were given "to disarm and disperse the miner's army" as well as "the volunteer force opposing them."
Boyden R. Sparkes writes that "the most striking characteristic of the individuals of the miner's army was their youth."
*St. Albans is located in Kanawha County, West Virginia at the confluence of the Kanawha & Coal Rivers.
SOURCE
"Troops March Into Coal Fields To Disarm Both Sides in War; Miners Wage All-Day Battle," by Boyden R. Sparkes, The New York Tribune, September 3, 1921, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
