 Faced with the oncoming miner army , Chafin put into place plans he had been forming since early summer . Chafin had formed a small army of several hundred volunteers , composed of his deputies , mine guards , and members of the Logan County middle class , and had begun to train them in June . He established large weapons caches , including a stockpile of machine guns , and erected breastworks on the slopes of Blair Mountain . At around 2 a.m. on August 25 , Chafin turned on the fire siren in the town of Logan , calling together his army . By morning , 700 members of his volunteer army were assembled on the slopes of Blair Mountain . In addition to his land forces , Chafin established a small air force , composed of three biplanes that he rented from private owners for use in reconnaissance . 
