the outbreak of the french and indian war (the north american theater of the seven years' war) in 1754 brought revived interest in the construction of a fort. while the cherokee were allies of the british, french influence within the tribe had grown considerably, and a faction of the tribe at great tellico had switched its support to the french. the british crown provided governor dinwiddie of virginia with funds for the construction of a fort, though dinwiddie gave an insignificant amount to governor glen for the fort, and spent most of the remainder on braddock's expedition in 1755. after this expedition ended in disaster, dinwiddie turned to the cherokee for assistance in defending virginia's frontier. the cherokee agreed to provide 600 warriors, and in return, virginia and south carolina would construct a fort to protect cherokee families while the men were away fighting.