<P> Webb, who commanded the area from his base at Fort Edward, received intelligence in April that the French were accumulating resources and troops at Carillon . News of continued French activity arrived with a captive taken in mid-July . Following an attack by Joseph Marin de la Malgue on a work crew near Fort Edward on 23 July, Webb travelled to Fort William Henry with a party of Connecticut rangers led by Major Israel Putnam, and sent a detachment of them onto the lake for reconnaissance . They returned with word that Indians were encamped on islands in the lake about 18 miles (29 km) from the fort . Swearing Putnam and his rangers to secrecy, Webb returned to Fort Edward, and on 2 August sent Lieutenant Colonel John Young with 200 regulars and 800 Massachusetts militia to reinforce the garrison at William Henry . This raised the size of the garrison to about 2,500, although several hundred of these were ill, some with smallpox . </P> <P> While Montcalm's Indian allies had already begun to move south, his advance force of French troops departed from Carillon on 30 July under Lévis' command, travelling overland along Lake George's western shore because the expedition did not have enough boats to carry the entire force . Montcalm and the remaining forces sailed the next day, and met with Lévis for the night at Ganaouske Bay . The next night, Lévis camped just 3 miles (4.8 km) from Fort William Henry, with Montcalm not far behind . Early on the morning of 3 August, Lévis and the Canadians blocked the road between Edward and William Henry, skirmishing with the recently arrived Massachusetts militia . Montcalm summoned Monro to surrender at 11: 00 am . Monro refused, and sent messengers south to Fort Edward, indicating the dire nature of the situation and requesting reinforcements . Webb, feeling threatened by Lévis, refused to send any of his estimated 1,600 men north, since they were all that stood between the French and Albany . He wrote to Monro on 4 August that he should negotiate the best terms possible; this communication was intercepted and delivered to Montcalm . </P> <P> Montcalm, in the meantime, ordered Bourlamaque to begin siege operations . The French opened trenches to the northwest of the fort with the objective of bringing their artillery to bear against the fort's northwest bastion . On 5 August, French guns began firing on the fort from 2,000 yards (1,800 m), a spectacle the large Indian contingent relished . The next day a second battery opened fire from 900 feet (270 m) further along the same trench, creating a crossfire . The effect of the garrison's return fire was limited to driving French guards from the trenches, and some of the fort's guns either were dismounted or burst owing to the stress of use . On 7 August, Montcalm sent Bougainville to the fort under a truce flag to deliver the intercepted dispatch . By then the fort's walls had been breached, many of its guns were useless, and the garrison had taken many casualties . After another day of bombardment by the French, during which their trenches approached another 250 yards (230 m), Monro raised the white flag to open negotiations . </P> <P> The terms of surrender were that the British and their camp followers would be allowed to withdraw, under French escort, to Fort Edward, with the full honours of war, on condition that they refrain from fighting for 18 months . They were allowed to keep their muskets and a single symbolic cannon, but no ammunition . In addition, British authorities were to release French prisoners within three months . </P>

Who was the british commander who requested reinforcements for fort william henry