by the British. In September 1920, Lynch, along with Ernie O'Malley, commanded a force that took the British Army barracks at Mallow. The arms in the barracks were seized and the building partially burnt. Before the end of 1920, Lynch's brigade had successfully ambushed British troops on two other occasions. Lynch's guerrilla campaign continued into early 1921, with some successes such as the ambush and killing of 13 British soldiers near Millstreet. In March-April 1921, the IRA was reorganised into divisions based on regions. Lynch's reputation was such that he was made commander of the 1st Southern Division. Ernie O'Malley brought that news from GHQ on 21 April. From April 1921 until the Truce that ended the war in July 1921, Lynch's command was put under increasing pressure by the deployment of more British troops into the area and the British use of small mobile units to counter IRA guerrilla tactics. Lynch was no longer in command of the Cork No. 2 Brigade, for he had to travel in secret to each of the nine IRA Brigades in Munster. By the time of the Truce, the IRA under Liam Lynch was increasingly hard-pressed and short of arms and ammunition. He, therefore, welcomed the Truce as a respite but expected the war to continue after it ended. Civil War The War of Independence ended formally with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty between the Irish negotiating team and the British government in December 1921. Lynch was opposed to the Treaty, on the grounds that it disestablished the Irish Republic proclaimed in 1916 in favour of Dominion status for Ireland within the British Empire. Lynch, however, did not want a split in the republican movement and hoped to reach a compromise with those who supported the Treaty ("Free Staters") by the publication of a republican constitution for the new Irish Free State. But the British would not accept this, as the Treaty had only just been signed and ratified, leading to a deeper split in IRA ranks. Lynch did his best to reunite a divided IRA and continued to hold discussions with the opposing side for a number of months. Both he and Michael Collins were on the IRB Supreme Council and neither wanted to see a civil war. Lynch, who commanded by far the largest area of any divisional commander, was elected temporary chief of staff by the Republican Military Council