 Other sources are less sanguine in their assessment of Jourdan's retreat.Jourdan's forces, especially his left flank, were severely pressed; the French line collapsed upon itself at both ends as the soldiers fell back.A dispatch to Paris, later reported in the "Times", claimed that the French intent had been betrayed to the Austrians by a deserter, but there is some evidence that this was Jourdan's mendacious attempt to explain the apparent surprise with which the Austrians attacked.