TheMitcham War was a bloody conflict that occurred inClarke County, Alabama in the early 1890s.[1]
The conflict was between rural farmers in remote section of Clarke County named Mitcham Beat and merchants inCoffeeville and other towns near theMitcham Beat.[1] Some accounts characterize the conflict as resulting from the 1892 elections that left rural whites disenfranchised and angry and resulting in racial violence.[2]
Around 1890, a group of young rural men formed a secret society called "Hell-at-the-Breech" that believed their local economy was being controlled by a small group. On December 25, 1892, the gang entered Coffeeville and murdered a prominent businessman.[1]
Soon a vigilante mob of 500 formed to seek the Hell-at-the-Breech murderers, and eventually killed 5 men.[1]
Different sources have the violence continuing until fall of 1893 after the Hell-at-the-breech disbanded[1] or when the mob of Clarke County men publicly shot a prominent member of the Hell-at-the-Breech gang.[2]
Hell at the Breech (2003) is a fictional account of the Mitcham War by novelist and Alabama nativeTom Franklin (author).