demeré had begun preparing fort loudoun for a siege in september 1759. on september 9, after the cherokee tried to drive away the fort's cattle, demeré ordered the cattle to be brought inside the fort, where they were butchered and their meat salted. in november of that year, john stuart arrived with 70 reinforcements, increasing the fort's garrison to 200. in january 1760, demeré reported the fort had stockpiled enough meat for four months and enough corn for several weeks.