Etymology After the color of the Confederate uniform.
1
US, Obsolete Southern settlers of the Ohio river basin, who used dye from the butternut tree to colour their home-made clothing
Yankees took to calling the Borderlanders “butternuts”—a reference to the color of their crude homespun clothes.2011, Colin Woodard, chapter 17, in American nations, New York: Penguin, →ISBN:
2
US, Obsolete A Confederate Southerner, or somebody who supported southern rights and slavery
The Illinois troops delivered a volley that sent the butternuts scampering back across the field.1958, Shelby Foote, The Civil War: A Narrative. Vol. 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville.: