Supposedly he always wore shoes rather than boots. Apparently not. And look at the wide variety of headgear – not exactly what you’d call “uniform” is it?
General officers traditionally have “uniform privileges” — which is why Custer and Patton could wear the extravagant things they wore in the field, why Jackson wore an enlisted man’s forage cap and Stuart wore a broad-brimmed cavalier’s hat with a plume. Even if Grant preferred to wear shoes in camp, he would have worn high boots if he had any hard riding to do — to prevent chaffing. So in the picture he’s probably just arrived from a long ride or is about to embark on one.
Supposedly he always wore shoes rather than boots. Apparently not. And look at the wide variety of headgear – not exactly what you’d call “uniform” is it?
General officers traditionally have “uniform privileges” — which is why Custer and Patton could wear the extravagant things they wore in the field, why Jackson wore an enlisted man’s forage cap and Stuart wore a broad-brimmed cavalier’s hat with a plume. Even if Grant preferred to wear shoes in camp, he would have worn high boots if he had any hard riding to do — to prevent chaffing. So in the picture he’s probably just arrived from a long ride or is about to embark on one.