It was literally.

Hello fellow pedant.

It was literally a war against a union busting private military who had support from the US military.

Also, don't be a dick

It was very much a war, belligerent parties included the US military. Bombs were dropped from planes.

what standard do you need to be breached for a war to be literally a war to you. the coal miner i met you got shot in the leg charging a machine gun nest called it "our civil war." he trained with a rifle, got on a train to Mattewan, charged a machine gun nest, got bombed, and had to contend with "riot control gas."

to him, it was a war. and given the scope and scale of what happened on blair mountain, i reckon, i'd say it was a war.