Cotton from Avoyelles and other inland parishes probably was shipped to some central location such as Alexandria or Shreveport and then moved overland through Texas to a port on that state's coast. From there it would have gone out on a blockade runner.

There was some legal and illegal trading of cotton between the lines. Union agents purchased as much cotton along the Mississippi River as they could for shipment to New Orleans. Admiral Porter usually preferred to have his sailors steal cotton rather than to purchase it, although he might have received some kind of kick-backs from the trade.