They wore gray jackets, short of waist and single-breasted.

Caps were giving way to soft felt hats, and boots had already been supplanted by broad, strong shoes, called brogans.
Many of the soldiers carried frying pans and skillets hung on the barrels of their rifles, simple kitchen utensils which constituted almost the whole of their cooking equipment.

Their blankets and rubber sheets for sleeping were carried in light rolls on their backs.

A toothbrush was stuck in a buttonhole.

On their flanks or in front rode the cavalry, led by the redoubtable Turner Ashby, and there was in all their number scarcely a single horseman who did not ride like the Comanche Indian, as if he were born in the saddle.