New documentary about Wilmington's 1898 massacre points to involvement by U.S. military
Kent Chatfield is nothing if not determined.
For 19 years, the longtime local resident has researched Wilmington's 1898 coup and massacre, digging through archives and chasing down documents. Now, "McKinley's Guns," the first in a series of four planned film documentaries about the coup, its planning and its long-term effect on Wilmington, is ready for a public screening.
The hour-long film actually premiered at Thalian Hall on Sept. 29, but Hurricane Ian washed out two planned screenings for Sept. 30. The final public screening of "McKinley's Guns" is 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, at Thalian Hall.
In the film, Chatfield argues that the white supremacist coup, which left dozens of Blacks dead and is the only instance in U.S. history of the violent overthrow of a local government, had involvement from military officers and U.S. government officials at a higher level than has previously been revealed.
"This wasn't just a mob," said Jared Smith, one of the film's researchers, at a private screening of the film on Oct. 2. That's not to say that "the bar owners and shop owners weren't involved," he added, but they weren't the ones driving the violence.
Chatfield said his research took him to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., where he pulled thousands of pages of century-old regimental histories of U.S. troop movements, "all of it in cursive. None of it's online."
What he found, he said, points to involvement by Col. Joseph Franklin Armfield, who commanded a regiment of North Carolina Army troops and later rose to the rank of brigadier general, and by Fitzhugh Lee. Lee was a former Confederate general (and nephew of Robert E. Lee) who was governor of Virginia from 1886-1890 and later became a general in the U.S. Army and a diplomat appointed by President William McKinley.
Chatfield said both Armfield and Lee conspired to have weapons and soldiers sent to Wilmington to participate in the coup, and that many of the so-called "Red Shirts" who terrorized the Black community in the days leading up to and during the massacre were active U.S. soldiers.
It's a complex but compelling narrative that weaves in the Spanish-American War, a regiment of Black Army troops who were sent out of the state during the massacre and Wilmington's own Donald MacRae, father of Hugh MacRae, who Chatfield said allowed his fertilizer plant in Navassa to be used as base for the Red Shirts, who would cross the Cape Fear River to make their attacks.
Previously, Chatfield has appeared in Wilmington filmmaker Christopher Everett's 1898 documentary "Wilmington on Fire," in which his wry, indignant insights about 1898, delivered in a pronounced Southern accent, played a starring role. He said "McKinley's Guns" will be available for streaming online starting Nov. 10, and that he and his filmmaking team are currently raising money to make the next three films in the series.
Chatfield, who ran unsuccessfully for Wilmington City Council in 2003, has a long of battling authority. In 2002, he won a victory in court when a judge declared that Wilmington Housing Finance and Development is a public agency, and thus subject to the state's public records and open meetings laws. The case was later overturned on appeal.
He's also run afoul of the law a number of time. Charges include marijuana possession in (he says police planted it in an attempt to discredit him as he battled the Wilmington Housing Authority) and assault with a deadly weapon in 2003 when police say Chatfield attacked a Burgaw police sergeant (Chatfield said all he did was witness a fight).
But while his past may be checkered, Chatfield's interest-bordering-on-obsession with the events of 1898 feels genuine. With "McKinley's Guns," he said, he wants to get all the facts out there in the hope that information that has long been buried might lead to a clearer understanding of the past.
Want to go?
What: "McKinley's Guns," a documentary about Wilmington's 1898 coup and massacre, presented by Wind Tree Research and Crane House Films
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13
Where: Thalian Hall, 310 Chestnut St., Wilmington
Info: Tickets are $21.40, taxes and fees included
Details: 910-632-2285 or CraneHouseFilm.com
Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: McKinley's Guns doc film points to U.S. military involvement in 1898