On July 3, 1754, about 700 French and Indian fighters approached Great Meadows toward fewer than 400 British soldiers in and around Fort Necessity. French Captain Louis Coulon de Villiers found the British standing before their trenches in battle lines typical of European tactics, but the action quickly shifted as the British withdrew into their fortifications and the French and Indians dispersed into the woods to surround the fort. Most of the attackers concentrated in the nearby woods, where trees gave them protection and they were within accurate firing range, while rain fell throughout the day and the French exchanged musket fire with British troops, many of whom lay in water-filled trenches. Advancing along Washington's unfinished military road before following scouts into the woods, de Villiers positioned his troops to keep the British inside the fort and prevent them from leaving, and when not firing at the British in and around Fort Necessity, the French and Indians also shot the British army's horses, cattle, and dogs in the meadow.