Unlike Fort Augustus, Fort William was a well-designed, modern position; control of the sea meant it could easily be reinforced, while "Serpent" and "Baltimore" gave the garrison more firepower than the besiegers. Stapleton considered it too strong for the Jacobites to take and Cumberland apparently considered it a way of diverting Jacobite resources. Charles and his senior Scots commander Lord George Murray agreed with Stapleton but Lochiel and Keppoch insisted, due to the damage caused to their lands by the garrison.