<P> Governor Vaudreuil had ambitions to become the French commander in chief, in addition to his role as governor, and he acted during the winter of 1756 before those reinforcements arrived . Scouts had reported the weakness of the British supply chain, so he ordered an attack against the forts which Shirley had erected at the Oneida Carry . In the Battle of Fort Bull, French forces destroyed the fort and large quantities of supplies, including 45,000 pounds of gunpowder . They set back any British hopes for campaigns on Lake Ontario and endangered the Oswego garrison, already short on supplies . French forces in the Ohio valley also continued to intrigue with Indians throughout the area, encouraging them to raid frontier settlements . This led to ongoing alarms along the western frontiers, with streams of refugees returning east to get away from the action . </P> <P> The new British command was not in place until July . Abercrombie arrived in Albany but refused to take any significant actions until Loudoun approved them, and Montcalm took bold action against his inertia . He built on Vaudreuil's work harassing the Oswego garrison and executed a strategic feint by moving his headquarters to Ticonderoga, as if to presage another attack along Lake George . With Abercrombie pinned down at Albany, Montcalm slipped away and led the successful attack on Oswego in August . In the aftermath, Montcalm and the Indians under his command disagreed about the disposition of prisoners' personal effects . The Europeans did not consider them prizes and prevented the Indians from stripping the prisoners of their valuables, which angered the Indians . </P> <P> Loudoun was a capable administrator but a cautious field commander, and he planned one major operation for 1757: an attack on New France's capital of Quebec . He left a sizable force at Fort William Henry to distract Montcalm and began organizing for the expedition to Quebec . He was then ordered to attack Louisbourg first by William Pitt, the Secretary of State responsible for the colonies . The expedition was beset by delays of all kinds but was finally ready to sail from Halifax, Nova Scotia in early August . In the meantime, French ships had escaped the British blockade of the French coast, and a fleet awaited Loudoun at Louisbourg which outnumbered the British fleet . Faced with this strength, Loudoun returned to New York amid news that a massacre had occurred at Fort William Henry . </P> <P> French irregular forces (Canadian scouts and Indians) harassed Fort William Henry throughout the first half of 1757 . In January, they ambushed British rangers near Ticonderoga . In February, they launched a raid against the position across the frozen Lake George, destroying storehouses and buildings outside the main fortification . In early August, Montcalm and 7,000 troops besieged the fort, which capitulated with an agreement to withdraw under parole . When the withdrawal began, some of Montcalm's Indian allies attacked the British column because they were angry about the lost opportunity for loot, killing and capturing several hundred men, women, children, and slaves . The aftermath of the siege may have contributed to the transmission of smallpox into remote Indian populations, as some Indians were reported to have traveled from beyond the Mississippi to participate in the campaign and returned afterward . Modern writer William Nester believes that the Indians might have been exposed to European carriers, although no proof exists . </P>

How many american soldiers died in the french and indian war