seven o'clock
It was only after two hours ' fighting that the Russians withdrew from the suburbs into the town itself , and as the bridges across the river had not suffered greatly from the fire of the great French battery , Barclay sent Prince Eugene of Wurtemberg across to reinforce the garrison . As soon as the Russians retired into the town a hundred and fifty guns opened fire on the wall to effect a breach , and at five a desperate assault was made upon one of the gates , which was for a moment captured , but Prince Eugene charged forward with his division and recaptured it at the point of the bayonet . The French shell and grape swept the streets and set fire to the town in a score of places , and several of the wooden roofs of the towers upon the wall were also in flames . After a pause for a couple of hours the French again made a serious and desperate assault , but the Russians sternly held their ground , and at seven o'clock made a sortie from behind the citadel , and drove the French out of the Krasnoi suburb . At nine the cannonade ceased . The French fell back to the position from which they had moved in the morning , and the Russians reoccupied the covered ways in front of the wall to prevent a sudden attack during the night . `` What did I tell you , Jules ? ''