Hello,
I thought it would be interesting to discuss the dress and equipment of General Grant.
Here's a clipping of Grant on Lookout Mountain in late 1863. He appears to be wearing a blue jacket. Someone told me he frequently wore a pre-war dragoon or mounted rifles jacket, but I do not know if that is the case. If anyone has seen that reference, please do chime in.
During the Campaign against General Lee in 1864 we see more formal dress... Here at Massaponax Church, on May 21, 1864, he is wearing his regulation frock coat and "heavy top-boots."
In mid-June, 1864, according to Horace Porter, the weather was too hot to wear the uniform coats, so General Grant, and most of his staff, ordered “thin, dark blue flannel blouses to be sent to them to take the place of the heavy uniform coats which they had been wearing.” After trying them on, Porter noticed:
“the general’s blouse, like the others, was of plain material, single-breasted, and had four regulation brass buttons in front. It was substantially the coat of a private soldier, with nothing to indicate the rank of an officer except the three gold stars of a lieutenant general on the shoulder straps. He ware at this time a turn-down white linen collar and a small, black “butterfly” cravat, which was hooked on to his front collar button. The general, when he put on the blouse, did not take the pains to see whether it fitted him or to notice how it looked, but thought only of the comfort it afforded, and said, “well, this is a relief,” and then added: I have never taken as much satisfaction as some people in making frequent changes in my outer clothing. I like to put on a suit of clothes when I get up in the morning, and wear it until I go to bed, unless I have to make a change in my dress to meet company. I have been in the habit of getting one coat at a time, putting it on and wearing it every day as long as it looked respectable, instead of using a best and a second best. I know that is not the right way to manage, but a comfortable coat seems like an old friend, and I don’t like to change it.”
At the same time, he received a pair of light, neatly fitting calfskin boots, “to which he seemed to take a fancy;” and wore them most of the time thereafter, except in bad weather when he put on his old “heavy top-boots.”
From Porter's book, "Campaigning with Grant", it would appear the general was wearing that thin flannel blouse, and his top boots, etc. at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.
Finally, this comes from the "Scrap Book" magazine, 1908:
Best,
Jesse Marshalll,
Hernando, FL.
I thought it would be interesting to discuss the dress and equipment of General Grant.
Here's a clipping of Grant on Lookout Mountain in late 1863. He appears to be wearing a blue jacket. Someone told me he frequently wore a pre-war dragoon or mounted rifles jacket, but I do not know if that is the case. If anyone has seen that reference, please do chime in.
During the Campaign against General Lee in 1864 we see more formal dress... Here at Massaponax Church, on May 21, 1864, he is wearing his regulation frock coat and "heavy top-boots."
In mid-June, 1864, according to Horace Porter, the weather was too hot to wear the uniform coats, so General Grant, and most of his staff, ordered “thin, dark blue flannel blouses to be sent to them to take the place of the heavy uniform coats which they had been wearing.” After trying them on, Porter noticed:
“the general’s blouse, like the others, was of plain material, single-breasted, and had four regulation brass buttons in front. It was substantially the coat of a private soldier, with nothing to indicate the rank of an officer except the three gold stars of a lieutenant general on the shoulder straps. He ware at this time a turn-down white linen collar and a small, black “butterfly” cravat, which was hooked on to his front collar button. The general, when he put on the blouse, did not take the pains to see whether it fitted him or to notice how it looked, but thought only of the comfort it afforded, and said, “well, this is a relief,” and then added: I have never taken as much satisfaction as some people in making frequent changes in my outer clothing. I like to put on a suit of clothes when I get up in the morning, and wear it until I go to bed, unless I have to make a change in my dress to meet company. I have been in the habit of getting one coat at a time, putting it on and wearing it every day as long as it looked respectable, instead of using a best and a second best. I know that is not the right way to manage, but a comfortable coat seems like an old friend, and I don’t like to change it.”
At the same time, he received a pair of light, neatly fitting calfskin boots, “to which he seemed to take a fancy;” and wore them most of the time thereafter, except in bad weather when he put on his old “heavy top-boots.”
From Porter's book, "Campaigning with Grant", it would appear the general was wearing that thin flannel blouse, and his top boots, etc. at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.
Finally, this comes from the "Scrap Book" magazine, 1908:
Best,
Jesse Marshalll,
Hernando, FL.
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