Burton tried to steer a course down the middle of all the competing interests. Like a majority in the state, he was strongly sympathetic towards the South, and a strong opponent of abolition, but he opposed Delaware's possible secession. A delegation led by Mississippi Judge Henry Dickinson came from the Confederacy to attempt to persuade the General Assembly to enact secession, but the suggestion was rejected, and Delaware remained firmly in the Union. Meanwhile, factions of armed supporters of both sides gathered arms and trained. Burton asked the groups favoring the South to disarm, but later withdrew the request. At the same time he appointed adjutant general and DuPont company president, Henry du Pont, to lead the state militia. du Pont was more decisive, and saw that when additional arms were secured from the federal government, they were directed toward loyal militia, and that the all-important powder mills of his company were properly protected. Du Pont would end up supplying over half the gunpowder used by the Union armies. When the call came for soldiers for the federal army, Burton again compromised by refusing to turn over the Delaware militia, or to pay for bounties, but did encourage enlistment. In fact, support for the Union was so strong that Delaware had a larger number of soldiers per size of population than any other state. This fact prompted U.S. President Abraham Lincoln to remark that "South of the Mason-Dixon line, noble little Delaware led off right from the first."