On January 24, 1861, five days after Georgia's secession from the Union, Governor Joseph E. Brown accepted the surrender of the United States Arsenal at Augusta from Captain Arnold Elzey. Brown refused Elzey's request that his troops be allowed to take their arms, saying they had brought none with them, and Georgia acquired 27,000 muskets and rifles, two cannon, and two twelve-pound howitzers. As 82 Federal troops departed, a detachment of the 600-man Augusta Independent Battalion volunteer militia took command. The Augusta Arsenal became a major Confederate supply center and the lower South's arsenal most responsible for producing and repairing field artillery during the war. By mid-1861, Confederate Chief of Ordnance Josiah Gorgas began developing it as a great arsenal of construction where ammunition, field and siege artillery projectiles, and general ordnance stores would be made in large quantities. The first Confederate commandant, Captain W.G. Gill, oversaw construction of a massive brick building on the arsenal's eastern boundary, and by the end of the war part of it also served as a hospital. After Lieutenant Colonel George Washington Rains took command in April 1862, many other new buildings were constructed. His employees included a chemist, a master armorer, and many artisans, and because of the importance of the arsenal's work, male workers were exempt from the draft, though they also formed a home defense unit to protect the facility in case of attack. Other workers included blacks, women, and children, who made cartridges and the bags to carry them. From 1863 through 1865, the arsenal manufactured large quantities of war material, including 73,521 horseshoes, 4,622,000 lead balls, 10,575 powder boxes, 10,760,000 cartridges for small arms, 2,445 saddles, and 1,000,000 percussion caps. Field artillery and equipment for infantry and cavalry went from the Augusta Arsenal to Confederate soldiers on battlefields throughout the South, especially those defending Georgia. In late November 1864, Union Major General William T. Sherman's army threatened Augusta during its March to the Sea, and preparations were made to move much equipment to safety until the Federal army turned toward Savannah. The war ended for Augusta on May 3, 1865, when Federal troops entered the city and Captain W.H. Warren, acting for Colonel Rains, surrendered the arsenal to Union Major General Emory Upton. William H. T. Walker, who took part in the January 24, 1861, seizure, later became a Confederate major general, was killed during the July 22, 1864, Battle of Atlanta, and was buried in his family's cemetery at the Augusta Arsenal.