Well-Groomed Officers 13th New York Cavalry

Taken from Photographic History of the Civil War Volume IV The Cavalry , Francis Trevelyan Miller, editor-in-chief. New York: the Trow Press, 1911. Page 61.

Copyright, 1911, Patriot Pub. Co.
Many of the Federal cavalry officers were extremely precise in the matter of dress, paying equal attention to their horses' equipment, in order to set a good example to their men. Custer was a notable example. This photograph shows full dress, fatigue dress, a properly equipped charger, an orderly, sentry, cavalry sabres and the short cavalry carbine. Except for the absence of revolvers, it is an epitome of the dress and equipment which the Federal Government supplied lavishly to its troopers during the latter half of the war. At the outset, the volunteer cavalrymen were required to supply their own horses, a proper allowance being made for food and maintenance. In 1861, the Confederate cavalry had no Colt's revolvers, no Chicopee sabers, and no carbines that were worth carrying. Their arms were of the homeliest type and of infinite variety. This photograph was taken in July, 1865, when Washington no longer needed watching.