The Cotton Deals

[Eva Elisabeth]

(01-17-2014 10:50 PM)Don1946 Wrote:  The Union blockade actually helped this strategy, but it also put the Union in the position of denying cotton to Europe. Capturing cotton and selling it in the North or abroad helped relieve pressure and alleviate social distress in Europe.

It would be kind if someone could comment on the following:

Wasn't a side effect of the blockade and the capturing of blockade runners that this was a (welcomed?) way for the north to get ships and enlarge the fleet? Since contrary to the Confederacy the Union allegedly did not buy ships from Europe, and in 1863, as Lincoln informed Congress on Dec. 8, the US Navy consisted of 578 vessels (compared to ~100 at the beginning of the war). This is an incredible increase within such a short period of time (to be built at least)! How many shipyards did the North have in those days?

I also read that the Navy Department purchased the captured blockade runners at auctions, after they had been condemned by prize courts. Was this alway the modus operandi or did it happen that they also took the short cut and just kept them (without the court and pay)? And who received the money? (The owner? The government? Both seems odd to me.)