(The Battle of Matewan), also known as the (Matewan Massacre), was a pivotal and deadly shootout that occurred on May 19, 1920, in Matewan, West Virginia, during the West Virginia Coal Wars. It was a violent confrontation between striking coal miners and the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, hired by coal operators to suppress union organizing efforts. (Background) In the spring of 1920, the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) was actively organizing miners in the southern West Virginia coalfiel