Kanawha Field but only three survived the flight. The total number of army aircraft in West Virginia by September 2 stood at fourteen. The bombers and their crews became an instant hit with the local population who had never seen so many military aircraft at one time in one place. Although neither the DeHavillands or Martins ever used their armament, they performed several reconnaissance missions and enjoyed the unique distinction of being the first air unit to participate in an American civil disturbance. Mitchell subsequently boasted how the "`Mingo War' provided an excellent example of the potentialities of air power, that can go wherever there is air, no matter whether they be over water or land."42

With no more than two thousand troops and fourteen bombers to overawe thecivilian combatants of both sides, General Bandholtz deployed on September 3, 1921. From the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company building in Charleston, Bandholtz divided the area around Blair Mountain into three operational zones and deployed his command in a classic pincer movement around the two civilian forces. The first group of regulars, under the command of Colonel C. A. Martin and Major Charles T. Smart, Nineteenth Infantry, were ordered to advance southeast by rail along the Coal River from St. Albans to Madison, Danville, Sharples, Jeffrey, and finally Blair, to the rear of the miners' army at the base of the mountain. The Fortieth Infantry, in a second column under the command of Colonel G. A. Shuttleworth, would move on Logan, positioning themselves behind Blair Mountain opposite the