Butternut and Blue is a blog about the American Civil War. Not about the battle strategies, overarching tactics or political dramas, but about the strange coincidences and interesting anecdotes that emerged from the war.
The name of my blog refers to the colors of the Confederate and Union armies. The ‘blue’ refers to the Union army and the ‘butternut’ refers to the Confederates. According to the Regulations of the Army of the Confederacy, Confederate soldiers were supposed to wear cadet grey uniforms. Near the end of the war, however, grey dyes were low in supply and so Confederates were forced to dye their uniforms using butternuts.
Butternut and Blue 
As someone who considers herself a Southerner I thought I knew a lot about Robert E. Lee but I must confess I’ve never heard this story before. It does sound quite in keeping with his character though. Thanks for enlightening us with your interesting stories and clear writing style.
I think you’ll like this story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101225/ap_on_re_us/us_message_in_a_bottle
That’s incredible. I can’t believe they didn’t give in and open it earlier to see what it said. Definitely a topic worth blogging about. Thanks for passing it my way!