Doyle, you are right - the early contracts with the French commercial houses were pretty significant, at least for the Trans-MS, and they have been fairly ignored by most. I will venture to say that most of the cadet gray Army cloth in the TMD during 1862-1863 was a product of France (or more specifically, Belgium), and not England. In June 1862 a relatively huge amount of Belgian blue-grey wool army cloth was brought into Texas through Matamorros by a French firm, and while the shipment was originally intended for the Eastern theatre, the evidence indicates that the lion's share of it remained in the TMD, with distribution to troops in TX, LA, and ARK. You have probably already seen the article I wrote on this shipment in an old edition of the Tom Ezell's Capitol Guards newsletter. If not, let me know. Subsequent French shipments of cloth from the same firm likewise made their way into the TMD. Another series of French shipments are also known.