As with all thing involving any military action I am sure that there were a number of factors which lead to the surprise of the Confederate at longview. I would suggest that the simular color of the Uniforms was probably no doubt a factor no matter whether they were battlefield pick ups or english cloth jachets of the Confederates. But also the size of the raiding party (50 men) and the boldness of their approaching such a sizable confederate force who were obviously mostly labor contributed to the success of Lt. Greathouse raid.