The Bucktails may refer to one of two organizations that were particularly characterized and identified by the wearing of a bucktail in their headgear.

1) The Bucktails (1818–1826) were the faction of the Democratic-Republican Party in New York State opposed to the canal policy of Governor DeWitt Clinton

DeWitt Clinton

DeWitt Clinton was an early American politician and naturalist who served as United States Senator and the sixth Governor of New York. In this last capacity he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal...

. It was influenced by the Tammany Society. The name derives from a Tammany insignia, a deer's tail worn in the hat. The name was in use as early as 1791 when a bucktail worn on the headgear was adopted as the "official badge" of the Tammany Society. The wearing of the bucktail was said to have been suggested by its appearance in the costume of the Tammany Indians in the vicinity of New York.

2) Also, during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, the members of the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves were widely known in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 as Bucktails because each soldier wore a bucktail in his hat. The flagstaff of the companies which formed the nucleus of this regiment was a green hickory

Hickory

Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...

pole surmounted by a bucktail.