 Saint-Omer especially was given special attention by the French commanders as Robert failed to make the slightest precaution to conceal his destination, conducting a campaign of destruction almost in a direct line towards the French town.As he did so, Philip dispatched a force of several thousand men to Saint-Omer under Eudes IV, Duke of Burgundy and then followed this a week later with another sizeable force under Jean I, Count of Armagnac.These men soon put the town onto a war footing, evacuating much of the non-military population, demolishing the suburbs and fortifying the town walls.