I know that sometime I take for granted being able to go to a sporting goods store and get a pound of powder to use for most of the year.  But never thought about what those we portray had to do.. I know for the Federals they had the DuPont powder mills in Delaware that were producing plenty of powder, but what about the Confederates.

Well in going back through my library of magazines and such, I found an article from the May 1994 issue of America's Civil War.

"Colonel George Washington Rains worked wonders with the Confederacy's nascent Nitre Bureau."
By Louis S Schafer

On April 27, 1862, the largest gunpowder mill within the entire Confederacy was opened in Augusta, Georgia. It was placed, along with all similar manufacturing concerns, under the direction of the newly created Nitre Bureau, and Colonel George Washington Rains was selected to oversee its operation. Within weeks, the mill was producing nearly 10,000 pounds of high-quality gunpowder in each 15-hour shift. By the end of the war, the Augusta plant was responsible for having shipped more than 1.5 million pounds of powder to the capital city of Richmond alone.

Rains had attended West Point, majoring in scientific studies and graduating in 1842 at the top of his class. He went on to serve as a professor of chemistry, geology and mineralogy at his alma mater. Despite Rains’ limited knowledge of gunpowder composition, the Confederate chief of ordnance, Josiah Gorgas, gave him complete control of locating, mining and refining all necessary ingredients for the powder’s production.
...

Undaunted, Rains dispatched teams to explore the limestone caverns of Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. They were amaze to find earth that contained high concentrates of valuable nitrate of lime, and Rains immediately ordered workmen to begin excavation procedures.

...
While gunpowder continued to flow across the Atlantic, Rains was still hard at work organizing domestic production. Perhaps the most intriguing segment of his plan was the division of the South into districts, each of which was assigned a crew to dig the earth from beneath privies and latrines. There they found nitre, naturally produced by mingling the nitrogenous matter in human waste with quicklime deposits.
....

The intensive search for nitre paid off rather quickly for Rains and his crew, for a large deposit was discovered in Texas.  By the end of October 1862, it was producing more than 2,000 pounds of raw material per day, with stockpiles reaching an astounding 2,000 tons.

It has been calculated that Rains’ Augusta operation produced a total of more than 2.75 million pounds of high quality gunpowder, enabling him to fill every demand sent his way. By the end of 1862, the cost of smuggled gunpowder had risen to nearly $3 per pound. With an output of more than 1 million pounds during that same year, Rains managed to save the Confederacy in excess of $2 million, and the huge complex had cost the South less than 20 percent of that amount.

Despite the fact that the Confederacy steadily lost much of its gunpowder supply to invading Union forces, and despite being cut off from the mining operation in Texas, the Nitre Bureau was able to maintain an average output of 2,000 pounds of gunpowder per day over a 36-month period. Certainly, Colonel George Washington Rains deserves much of the credit for that amazing accomplishment.

From the same article above, the job was not without its dangers.. and when dealing with an explosive item like gunpowder accidents are bound to happen..

During the first few months of operations, however, a catastrophic explosion nearly spelled disaster for the entire complex. The force of the devastating charge sent up a huge 500-foot geyser of smoke, gravel and flames, destroying 3 tons of gunpowder and killing seven men in the process. Later, it was determined that a careless worker had disobeyed strict regulations concerning cigarette smoking within a highly restricted area.

Wooden sidewalls measuring 10 feet thick were constructed between each structure, and all front entryways were outfitted with 2-inch-thjck glass shields. Workmen operated long levers by way of a friction gear built beneath each building’s floors, so that the dangerous rollers could be controlled from a safe distance. As a further precaution, 30-gallon sprinkler tanks were installed above each roller, rigged so that they would spill their contents in the event of a fire.

The gunpowder warehouses were next on Rains’ agenda. The powder magazines themselves were stored beneath the ground and covered at the surface by thick brick traverses. Each mound was individually shielded from outside elements by a lightweight zinc roof. Furthermore, they were designed in such a fashion as to ensure that any individual explosion would not set off a chain reaction. All storehouses as well as the mines and mills were guarded around the clock by a contingency of highly trained soldiers, whose numbers reached well into the hundreds.

Greg,

Have you ever visited the old Dupont powder mills in Wilmington, DE? The actual rolling mills, where the powder components were mixed are big three sided stone buildings facing the Brandywine Creek. The side facing the creek was sheathed with wood planking. In the event of an explosion, the wood wall facing the creek was designed to blow out harmlessly.

There was an accident at the Pittsburgh Arsenal during the War. A large number of women and children, who were employed in making cartridges, were killed in the explosion.  

I haven't been down to the actual powder mills, but have passed by them when driving along 141.

We did a living history a couple years back at Hagley where we represented the 4th Delaware who was encamped there to protect the mills.

I might take a trip down there this summer to check them out.