What Does the Word Bushwhackers Mean?

1 transitive : to attack (someone) by surprise from a hidden place : ambush … the American banditti robbed trains and bushwhacked stagecoaches and settlers' caravans with equal enthusiasm for fistic violence and gunplay.—

What is the slang meaning of Bushwacker?

bushwhacker. / (ˈbʊʃˌwækə) / noun. US, Canadian and Australian a person who travels around or lives in thinly populated woodlands. Australian informal an unsophisticated person; boor.

Who were the bushwhackers in Missouri?

The “bushwhackers” were Missourians who fled to the rugged backcountry and forests to live in hiding and resist the Union occupation of the border counties. They fought Union patrols, typically by ambush, in countless small skirmishes, and hit-and-run engagements.