"You are assuming that the cotton taken in the South by Union agents was paid for. The majority of the cotton taken in Mississippi by Union forces was never paid for."
David,
I am refering to the cotton that left the south on the ships of blockade runners. The cotton that you refer to was for the most part, "abondoned" property. It seems that the U S Congress passed a law called the abondoned property law that stated if they found anything of value in the south and they could not find the owner, it was abonded and they were free to sell it. Some think the law was unfair, I understand. I think that might be the cotton that you refer to. I am not sure where the owners might have been. In any case, it kept the loom workers busy.
FC