in 1754, when the french and indian wars began, he was placed in command of the new jersey forces. they went from schenectady to fort oswego, but returned because of battle losses in new jersey. in 1755, they returned to oswego and fort ontario, but was captured when oswego surrendered to the french under the command of general marquis de montcalm. schuyler remained a captive in montreal until he was paroled in october 1757. schuyler surrendered to montcalm in july 1758, and was sent back to montreal. in november 1758, he was exchanged for pierre-jacques payen de noyan et de chavoy, who was the commandant at fort frontenac, and paid the ransom for approximately 114 of his former men from captivity in quebec with his own money.