5fish said:To all,
I agree that Gen. Lee had all the appropriate uniforms for his status within the confederate army; but all the eye wittnesses keep refering to it as a new uniform. These eye wittnesses are themselves military officers and most of them should be able to tell if a uniform is new or not.
We have only questions until we know the history behind the uniform Gen. Lee at appomattox in April 1865.
5fish
But the question still is, was it brand new, or had it just never been seen before. I have shirts that I have bought, but i didn't wear them for a year or so. They just hung in my closet. Then one day, I see it, and think, hey, I think that I will wear that shirt out tonight. One of my friends sees it later and asks "hey, is that a new shirt, cause I haven't seen you wear it before." What do I say? Oh, its new, because I have never worn it, but have had it for a while, or do I say that no, I have had it for while.
This is why I proposed the theory that he got the uniform ordered sometime in 1862 as Davis' militiary advisor, but never got a chance to wear it because he was given command of the AoNV and what kind of general is going to wear such an elaborate uniform in the field (besides McClellan and Hancock the Superb)? I think he had it for awhile, but never wore it, and this was the occasion to bring it out.