Cherokee "mother town" of Chota in the Little Tennessee Valley on June 28, 1756, several weeks ahead of the party from the other colony. Rather than wait, Lewis's party began work on a fort across the Little Tennessee River from Chota. This structure, known as the "Virginia Fort," was square in shape, measuring on each side, with walls consisting of earthen embankments topped by a palisade. Lewis's orders were simply to construct the fort, so after its completion in early August 1756, the Virginians returned home. Although Governor Glen's political foes ousted him in May 1756, his successor, William Henry Lyttelton, was committed to the fort's completion. An advance party led by William Gibbs crossed the mountains and arrived at Great Hiwassee in early August. They reached Tomotley on August 6, 1756, where Gibbs stayed in the home of Cherokee chief Attakullakulla. The main body, consisting of 80 British regulars commanded by Captain Raymond Demeré, and two provincial companies of 60 men each, departed from Fort Prince George on the South Carolina frontier on September 21, 1756. Accompanied by 60 pack horses, the group made the roughly trek in ten days, arriving in Tomotley on October 1. They were greeted by Cherokee leader Old Hop and 200 Indians. The herculean task of moving the fort's cannons over the mountains was accomplished by a contractor named John Elliott. John Stuart, an officer and future Indian agent who had accompanied the garrison, negotiated a purchase of corn from the Cherokee that helped the garrison avoid starvation. John William Gerard de Brahm, a German-born engineer who had overseen the repair of the fortifications of Charleston, was tasked with designing the fort. De Brahm and Demeré constantly bickered over the fort's location and design. Demeré favored a site selected earlier that year by a scout named John Pearson, but De Brahm rejected the site as too exposed. He favored a site further upstream that offered a commanding view of the river, but Demeré disagreed, saying the site lacked suitable land for the garrison to grow crops. Demeré reported that De Brahm, incensed, took out his pistol and offered it to Demeré to shoot him in the head. The two eventually agreed on the current site of the fort, near the confluence with the Tellico River, as a compromise. Construction of the fort began on October 5, 1756. De Brahm's design was more elaborate than