Butternut letter?

[DLShake]

I was reading"The Letters of Captain Henry Richards of the 93rd Ohio Regimental Volunteer Infantry" and I came across the following:

"I think I have written you several letters which you have not received; one in particular, with a butternut letter enclosed, which one of our men received, as you have never mentioned it.."


I know what the term Butternut refers to but whats a Butternut LETTER and if one of his men recieved it why would he send it home?

I know no one knows for sure on the 2nd part of my question, Just your thoughts.. Thank you

 

[roberts]

A butternut letter was slang for a letter of commendation or recommendation that was sweet with praise. I don't why that Captain Richards would forward it to his wife; he may have wanted her to share it with others at home.

 

[James B White]

Another meaning was a letter written with southern sympathies from a local person. Here's an example of that: "Believe me when I tell you that nothing on earth is so despicable or will create sutch a feelings of hate as a Butternut letter to a soldier from Home at this time..." from a captain of the 47th Indiana at http://www.cowanauctions.com/auctions/item.aspx?ItemId=22800

 

[DLShake]

Another meaning was a letter written with southern sympathies from a local person. Here's an example of that: "Believe me when I tell you that nothing on earth is so despicable or will create sutch a feelings of hate as a Butternut letter to a soldier from Home at this time..." from a captain of the 47th Indiana at http://www.cowanauctions.com/auctions/item.aspx?ItemId=22800

So it may have been a letter from a Southern family to their soldier complaining about conditions and/or the Union soldiers that had somehow gotten into the hands of one of Henry's men.?

 

[James B White]

So it may have been a letter from a Southern family to their soldier complaining about conditions and/or the Union soldiers that had somehow gotten into the hands of one of Henry's men.?

Or more likely a local (hometown) Ohio family that was writing to demoralize a local recruit. Dayton, where the 93rd was raised, was copperhead city, with Vallandigham and all. It sticks in my mind that when I was reading through the Gallipolis Ohio newspaper, I ran across complaints about similar letters from there. But I don't want to eliminate roberts' suggestion; his is just a meaning I hadn't run into.

 

[roberts]

James B White's post seems to be a better explanation for this letter. Although this can mean a letter of reference or praise it is likely that this definition may have come later. Copperheads were sometimes called Butternuts and in this letter's context, White's post makes much more sense. I was not aware of this use but it just fits...

 

[LostGettysburgAddress]

It may be more accurate to say that Dayton, and much of Ohio, had a population with a wide spectrum of political beliefs. Yes, Val was from Dayton, but Charles Anderson, perhaps the most vocal Southern-born Union man in Ohio, also lived there (his wife's hometown). Of course, Anderson raised and commanded the 93rd OVI. Anderson and Val were friends early in their law careers, but bitter opponents for the better part of their adult lives. Dayton had riots, shootings of newspaper men, burned newspaper offices. It was quite the ideological battleground as James B. White suggests.