In 1943 the U.S. Army had crossed the Ohio River and advanced on Earlington. As it advanced, Army Engineers dynamited the entrances to area coal mines to deny their use to the enemy if U.S. forces were driven back. Behind the advancing front, Confederate civilians engaged in "bushwhacking" U.S. troops. The U.S. retaliated by taking hostages and executing them if the "francs-tireurs" didn't surrender. During a lull in fighting outside Earlington, Confederate Captain Wilbur Pease crossed U.S. lines under a white flag ostensibly to investigate such atrocities.