The uniform of a cavalry general of the Russian Imperial Army

At the end of the XVIII – early XIX century. the concept of a general-general uniform appeared in the Russian army, assigned to all generals, regardless of which branches of the armed forces they were listed in and what positions they held. In 1808, a new model of the general military uniform was installed – dark green, with a red collar, cuffs and edging, with patterned embroidery in the form of a garland of oak leaves on the collar, cuffs, cuff flaps and back pocket flaps. The coloring and finishing of the applied details of the uniform remained unchanged, with the exception of small details, until the beginning of the twentieth century. For everyday wear, the generals relied on a dark green coat without sewing, with red trim.

On December 3, 1909, all generals who were listed in cavalry and horse artillery were assigned the same uniform instead of a frock coat as officers of dragoon regiments who had not previously been cuirassiers. It was cut single-breasted, with an eight-button closure, with a standing rounded collar and cuffs with a toe, along the back seam of which two buttons sat down. Dark green three-piece pocket flaps with red edging sat on the back below the waist. The uniform had no embroidered trim. He could wear both shoulder straps and epaulettes, for which there were both cloth loops and gold braid counter-shoulder straps on his shoulders. The cuffs were cut from the same fabric as the uniform, the collar of the cavalry generals was black velvet with red edging, the cavalry – red, without edging. The gold buttons were stamped the same as the buttons of the uniform. Hanging thread loops served to fasten the pad with awards. All generals outside the ranks were allowed to wear a sword, the scabbard of which was inserted into a special blade, and the hilt was released through a slot made on the left side slightly below the waist.

From February 6, 1914, to make a greater difference from infantry generals, a dark green edging was sewn on the top of the red collar of the cavalry generals' uniform (simultaneously with a similar change in the coloring of the collar of the combat uniform). Dark green edging was also added along the edges of the shoulder straps. Gold scaly epaulettes on a red lining, with silver stars by rank, without ciphers, remained unchanged. In this form, the general-generalissimo cavalry uniform existed until the end of the old Russian army. Nowadays, such uniforms are known only in single copies. The item is perfectly preserved and will become a real decoration of a museum or private collection.