British soldiers fought from earthworks, stream banks, trenches, and a wooden stockade as French and Indian forces fired on them. Steady rain dampened gun powder, fouled muskets, and filled the trenches with water, while ammunition and morale dwindled and casualties mounted. Dozens of wounded were carried or dragged into the stockade, and about 30 dead soldiers lay in the mud. By late afternoon the drizzle became a downpour, and when it stopped the British feared a deadly charge from the woods because they had few bayonets and were at a great disadvantage. About 8:00 p.m., a Frenchman called out to ask whether the British wanted to negotiate. Twenty-two-year-old Colonel George Washington had planned the defenses between two streambeds with earthworks around the stockade, but the position was too close to the treeline and the boggy soil let the trenches fill with water when it rained.